PS 
112 
F<3 


UC-NRLF 


THE  WORKINGMAN 

AND  THE 

SYNAGOGUE 


RABBI   SOLOMON   FOSTER 

NEWARK,  N.  J. 


f -U 


GIFT 


—  3  — 


THE  WORKINGMAN  AND  THE  SYNAGOGUE. 

BY  RABBI  SOLOMON  FOSTER,  NEWARK,  N.  J. 

"As  you  walk  through  the  swelling  and  ever-swelling  and 
sweltering  Xew  York  Ghetto  of  a  summer  evening,  the  truth 
of  it  becomes  verified  within  your  innermost  feelings.  .  .  . 
Wherever  you  turn  you  see  your  own,  your  own;  so  many,  so 
many  of  them.  You  are  glad;  you  are  proud.  .  .  .  You 
may  have  nothing  in  common  with  them  in  your  outlook  and 
aspirations,  nothing  in  your  daily  life  and  conduct;  still  you 
love  your  people,  you  love  them  well;  in  spite  of  yourself  you 
love  them.  You  love  them  also  in  spite  of  themselves.  They 
are  full  of  faults,  big  and  little;  they  grate  and  jar  upon  your 
senses  in  every  one  of  their  daily  doings;  a  thousand  times  a 
day  they  offend  your  highly  strung  sensibilities;  still  you  love 
them;  you  know  you  love  them."  (Jew.  Chronicle,  September 
18,  1908,  p.  14.) 

In  these  words  "Halitvack"  gives  us  a  sympathetic  glimpse 
into  the  seething,  suffering,  struggling  mass;  the  indifferent, 
yet  religious  and  idealistic  populace;  the  aspiring,  fighting,  laugh- 
ing, toiling,  studying,  peaceful  human  beings  who  make  up  New 
York's  East  Side.  Every  road  of  my  investigation  into  the 
conditions  of  the  Jewish  workingman  led  to  this  place.  It  is 
here  that  the  Jewish  immigrant  gets  his  first  knowledge  of 
America;  it  is  here  he  finds  the  means  of  a  livelihood;  here 
he  meets  his  relatives,  friends  and  countrymen;  here  he  makes 
or  finds  himself  at  home  with  his  people,  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  city,  yet  apart  from  it. 

The  road  to  the  East  Side  proved  to  be  a  short  road  to  my 
goal,  the  investigation  of  the  Jewish  workingman  in  his  rela- 
tionship to  the  Synagogue,  for  within  a  comparatively  narrow 
area  live  some  750,000  Jewish  souls,  as  it  is  estimated,  the 

321398 


—  4  — 

largest  settlement  of  Jews  in  one  city  that  the  world  has  ever 
known.  In  this  district  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  largest 
industrial  plants  in  the  country,  which  explains  the  presence  of 
an  enormous  laboring  class.  Almost  every  conceivable  object  is 
manufactured  in  this  section,  and  all  kinds  of  labor  can  be 
secured,  from  the  skilled  diamond  cutter  and  steel  engraver  to 
"the  hewer  of  wood  and  the  drawer  of  water."  Here  men, 
women  and  children  early  and  late  hear  the  busy  whirr  of  the 
machines  as  they  earn  their  daily  bread,  or  long  to  hear  it, 
when  loss  of  employment  or  a  slack  season  make  them  feel  more 
keenly  the  pinch  of  poverty.  On  the  East  Side  all  the  glory 
and  the  grandeur  of  an  industrial  age  are  to  be  seen;  the  almost 
human  sensitiveness  and  efficiency  of  machinery;  the  organization 
and  equipment  of  great  factories;  the  nice  calculations  of  human 
and  machine  capacity;  the  great  buildings  for  mercantile,  indus- 
trial, educational  and  philanthropic  purposes,  the  fruits  of  the 
splendid  risks  and  bold  adventures  of  progressive  capitalists. 

Here  also  flourish  and  multiply  all  the  degradation  and  vice 
of  an  industrial  age.  Here  are  exhibited  on  all  sides  the  rem- 
nants of  spiritual  beings  turned  to  tools.  Machines  answer  the 
anguish  and  sorrow  of  the  workmen  with  a  meaningless  roar, 
and  reply  to  their  cry  for  sympathy  and  help  with  an  inces- 
sant, unremitting  cruel  clamor.  The  diseases  of  occupation 
are  here  taken  from  the  realm  of  the  theoretical  into  that  of 
such  accurate  prediction  as  to  make  it  possible  for  the  scientist 
to  compute  by  age  and  number  the  percentage  of  deaths  in  the 
various  trades.  Here  we  see  youths  lashed  to  machines  when 
society  should  have  guaranteed  them  sunshine  and  play.  Also 
"immorality  is  in  the  streets,  now  in  the  broad  places  and  lieth 
in  wait  at  every  corner."  (Prov.  vii,  12.)  On  the  one  hand 
men  and  women  are  forced  to  live  in  homes  which,  because  of 
the  congestion,  are  like  hovels.  Loss  of  honor  and  self-respect 
are  not  unknown  guests.  Lack  of  leisure  prevents  the  pursuit 
of  self-culture  through  study  and  reflection.  At  the  same  time 
we  find  the  records  of  such  wonderful  heroism  in  the  battle 
for  truth,  honor  and  righteousness  as  to  excite  the  admiration 


—  5  — 

of  all.  Here  we  are  introduced  to  men  and  women  who  know 
what  it  means  to  make  sacrifices,  who  know  how  to  toil  faith- 
fully and  die  heroically. 

The  road  through  the  East  Side  proved  to  be  a  short  road  in 
my  investigation,  for  it  led  to  a  scene  of  such  diversified  in- 
terests, such  far  reaching  influences,  such  different  customs  and 
ideas,  such  an  endless  array  of  institutions,  as  fairly  to  reflect 
the  world-wide  Jewish  problem.  The  East  Side  forms  a  unique 
community,  most  wonderfully  organized  in  all  that  concerns  the 
welfare  of  Israel,  in  spite  of  the  seeming  disorganization  and 
disintegration;  most  peaceful,  happy  and  self-reliant  in  spite 
of  the  seeming  conflicting  purposes,  the  squalid  homes,  and  the 
helplessness  of  the  people;  a  community  thoroughly  Jewish  and 
thoroughly  American,  without  the  slightest  hint  of  any  pos- 
sible incompatibility. 

But  the  very  vastness  of  the  problem,  though  concentrated 
-in  a  narrow  area,  made  my  road  a  very  long  and  tortuous  one 
in  the  end.  A  commission  of  experts,  thoroughly  familiar  with 
the  whole  industrial  problem,  could  hardly  expect  without  un- 
divided attention  for  many  months,  to  cover  the  whole  field 
of  industrial  conditions  among  the  Jews.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  no  census  of  Jewish  working  people  in  this  country. 
Workingmen  are  not  enumerated  according  to  their  religion. 
The  unions,  in  which  this  fact  would  be  readily  ascertainable, 
comprise  only  a  comparatively  small  number  of  the  working- 
men.  (Out  of  about  'twenty  millions  of  working  people,  only 
three  millions  are  affiliated  with  the  unions  in  the  United 
States.)  The  Jewish  workingmen  are,  as  a  rule,  not  organized 
as  such,  preferring  to  enlist  in  the  National  or  State  bodies  on 
nonreligious  lines. 

The  difficulty  of  determining  the  limitations  of  the  subject 
soon  presented  itself,  for  it  was  found  that  men  who  might 
properly  be  recorded  as  workingmen  one  day  would  be  raised 
from  a  low  estate  and  transformed  over  night  into  merchant 
princes  and  great  manufacturers.  Because  it  was  impossible  to 
differentiate  between  the  body  of  permanent  workers  and  the 


-  6  — 

larger  body  of  workers,  many  of  whom  are  in  the  transitional 
stage  of  preparation  for  positions  as  merchants  and  professional 
men,  it  seemed  best  to  follow  a  good  old  Jewish  practice  of 
leaving  indefinite  what  can  not  be  defined. 

The  study  of  the  Jewish  workingman  disclosed  the  further 
fact  that  the  workingmen  are  almost  exclusively  recruited  from 
the  recent  immigrants,  for  with  an  almost  negligible  exception, 
it  is  stated  that  the  Jewish  immigrants  of  a  past  generation 
are  themselves  employers  of  labor,  a  fact  which  is  not  a  fruit- 
less cause  of  much  bitterness  on  the  part  of  the  employe,  who 
in  the  native  town  in  Russia  was  recognized  as  far  superior  to 
the  man  who,  by  the  change  of  fortune,  is  the  employer  in 
America. 

It  was  a  matter  of  both  practical  and  philosophic  perplexity 
to  determine  to  what  extent  our  people  were  affiliated  with  the 
Synagogue,  as  well  as  to  establish  a  standard  to  measure  the 
degree  of  religiosity  of  our  people.  The  records  of  Synagogue 
affiliation  in  this  country,  as  compiled  by  official  and  private 
statisticians,  as  will  be  shown,  are  imperfect,  and  largely  un- 
derestimate the  actual  number  of  Synagogue  supporters.  But 
still  this  does  not  measure  Jewish  loyalty.  The  old  command, 
"Do  not  separate  yourself  from  the  congregation"  (Aboth) 
(Al  tifrosh  min  hazibur)  has  been  interpreted  by  some  of 
our  people  as  applying  to  the  community  of  Israel,  a  command 
which  the  fewest  will  not  scrupulously  obey.  Orthodoxy  is  not 
the  final  test,  Eeform  is  not  the  last  standard,  Zionism  is  not 
the  criterion  of  Jewish  loyalty.  Let  the  partisans  of  these 
movements  in  Israel  shout  themselves  hoarse,  let  them  hurl  at 
each  other  imprecation  and  proscription  to  their  heart's  con- 
tent; let  them  misunderstand  and  misrepresent  one  another  as 
they  choose;  it  will  still  be  true  that  the  Jewish  people  and  the 
people  alone  will  be  the  final  arbiters  of  their  religion.  And 
this  peculiar  people  has  shown  itself  in  possession  of  a  heart 
and  soul  great  and  good  enough  to  say  to  everyone  who  sub- 
scribes himself  by  the  name  of  Israel,  "Come  and  nestle  close 
to  my  bosom." 


—  7  — 

This  view  is  re-enforced,  moreover,  by  the  observation  that 
from  the  religious  standpoint,  there  is  very  little,  in  fact,  there 
is  nothing  to  differentiate  the  workingman  from  the  employer. 
The  Synagogue  knows  no  laborer  nor  the  employer  of  labor  as 
such.  It  holds  all  men  equal.  The  rich  and  the  poor  all 
form  a  brotherhood.  Leviticus  (xix,  15),  has  proclaimed  to  the 
Synagogue  its  duty:  "Thou  shalt  not  respect  the  person  of 
the  poor,  nor  honor  the  person  of  the  great."  Simeon  of  Sichnin, 
the  digger  of  wells,  was  adjudged  as  important  to  the  com- 
munity as  Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  the  scholar.  (Midrash  to  Kohe- 
leth  iv,  17.) 

The  Rabbis  have  emphasized  that  the  terms,  Yisroel  "Israel," 
and  Adam  "man,"  being  never  used  in  the  plural  are  signifi- 
cant as  teaching  the  unity  of  all  men.  Phillips  Brooks  echoed 
this  thought  when  he  said,  "I  like  workingmen  very  much,  and 
care  for  their  good,  but  I  have  nothing  distinct  or  separate  to 
say  to  them  about  religion;  nor  do  I  see  how  it  will  do  any 
good  to  treat  them  as  a  separate  class  in  this  matter,  in  which 
their  needs  and  duties  are  just  like  other  men's." 

It  is  the  glory  of  religion  that  it  lifts  the  individual  out  of 
his  narrow  isolation  to  see  himself  as  a  member  of  the  human 
family.  It  is  the  glory  of  religion  that  it  ignores  the  national 
variations,  the  social  disagreements,  the  industrial  differences 
which  divide  men  and  nations  into  groups,  and  speaks  in  behalf 
of  humanity,  to  plead  in  the  name  of  truth  for  the  eternal 
welfare  of  mankind.  So  it  will  be  found  that  the  same  causes 
that  operate  to  make  the  workingman  indifferent  to  the  Syna- 
gogue will  apply  to  the  employers  of  labor. 

And  yet  the  Synagogue  in  directing  men  to  a  consideration 
of  the  world  problem,  and  stimulating  them  with  the  hope  of 
the  attainment  of  justice  and  righteousness,  can  not  afford  to 
dissociate  itself  from  the  local  problems  nor  ignore  the  present 
injustice,  social  and  economic. 

In  attempting  to  define  the  attitude  of  the  modern  Synagogue 
to  the  workingman,  the  writer  has  labored  under  the  difficulty 
which  confronts  the  timorous  pioneer.  There  is  no  treatise  on 


—  8  — 

the  subject  from  the  Jewish  point  of  view.  Information  had 
to  be  gathered  from  interviews  with  working  people  and  labor 
leaders,  from  discussions  with  social  workers,  from  pamphlets 
on  various  phases  of  the  subjects,  from  newspaper  reports  and 
articles,  and  personal  observation. 

"Under  such  circumstances  it  can  not  be  expected  that  one 
shall  be  able  to  do  more  than  open  the  subject  for  discussion. 
With  such  limitation,  however,  one  is  comforted  by  the  words 
of  Rabbi  Tarphon,  "It  is  not  thy  duty  to  complete  the  work, 
but  neither  art  thou  free  to  desist  from  it."  Lo  'olecho  ligmor 
welo  attoh  ben  Jiorin  lehMotel  mimmenu.  (Aboth  ii,  21.) 

But  the  workingmen  themselves  now  knock  at  our  doors. 
Let  us  open  to  them  and  bid  them  enter  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  Let  us  question  them  as  to  the  reasons  which  have 
estranged  many  of  them  from  the  Synagogue.  (For  brief  state- 
ments on  the  general  conditions  prevailing  among  our  working 
people  and  their  families,  see  Appendices  on  (a)  Occupations; 
(b)  Trades  Unionism;  (c)  Disease;  (d)  Criminality;  (e) 
Standard  of  Living;  (f)  Amusements;  (g)  Politics,  and  (h) 
Religion.) 

Estrangement  from  the  Synagogue. 

Influence  of  the  Christian  fellow-workman. 

Living  as  we  do  in  a  Christian  environment,  it  is  not  possible 
without  the  highest  degree  of  %  intelligence,  most  careful  watch- 
fulness and  the  staunchest  loyalty,  to  avoid  the  influences  of 
press,  stage,  and  platform  so  universally  the  vehicles  of 
istian  ideas  and  principles.  How  can  it  be  expected  that 
the  Jewish  workman  would  remain  impervious  to  the  impressions 
which  he  is  constantly  receiving  of  Christian  ideas  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  day  of  rest  recognized  by  law,  the  annual 
festivals  on  which  cessation  from  labor  is  enjoined,  are  Christian 
holidays?  Besides,  the  children  of  Jewish  parents  are  frequently 
asked  to  join  in  the  singing  of  Christian  hymns,  to  recite 
Christian  prayers,  to  hear  the  expression  of  Christian  sentiments, 
in  the  public  schools.  The  literature  of  the  day,  with  the  ex- 


—  9  — 

ception  of  the  important  books  of  science,  art  and  philosophy, 
is  largely  of  the  religious  views,  directly  or  implied,  of  our 
neighbors.  It  is  not  easy  to  remain  a  loyal  Jew  when  one 
stands  alone  and  isolated  in  an  environment  not  entirely  sym- 
pathetic. 

The  influence  of  the  environment  is  no  doubt  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  determining  the  attitude  of  the  Jews  to  the  Synagogue. 
What  obtains  in  the  Church,  to  a  degree,  will  be  reflected  in 
the  Synagogue. 

The  interdenominational  strife  among  the  Christian  Churches 
has  estranged  many  of  the  Christian  workingmen.  'It  has  begun 
to  appear  unseemly  that  the  various  churches  instead  of  work- 
ing in  harmony  for  the  welfare  of  humanity  are  continually 
clashing  in  their  interests,  each  one  seeking  to  advance  its  own 
denominational  interest.  The  working  people  are  thinking  that 
if  the  various  churches  would  unite  their  forces,  they  would  be 
able  materially  to  help  mitigate  the  evils  of  the  industrial  world. 
Because  they  are  not  at  peace,  the  churches  fail  to  appeal  to 
many  working  people  who  so  greatly  feel  the  need  of  peace. 

Then  again  the  churches  today  insist  on  putting  the  question, 
"Do  you  believe?  That  staggers  any  broadminded  man  who 
feels  that  what  he  believes  is  of  little  consequence  compared 
with  what  he  lives."  (Stelzle,  Workingman  and  Social  Problems, 
p.  102.)  Working  people  have  become  class-conscious  and  rec- 
ognize their  part  in  our  industrial  progress,  and  not  receiving 
their  just  share  of  the  profits,  as  they  feel,  they  consider  that 
the  professions  of  a  faith  which  has  not  helped  them,  and  the 
anticipations  of  a  future  world  which  totally  ignore  the  actual 
state  of  things  here  and  now,  are  senseless  and  valueless  prompt- 
ings of  the  imagination. 

The  unbending  and  fixed  character  of  the  Christian  Church 
is  responsible  also  for  the  defection  of  many  people.  Its  claim 
to  have  spoken  the  final  words  on  every  phase  of  truth,  which 
are  registered  in  its  creeds  and  ceremonies,  is  being  analyzed 
by  thinking  men  today  with  the  result  that  the  creeds  and  in- 
stitutions are  subjected  to  such  severe  attacks  and  sweeping 


—  10  — 

denials  as  to  indicate  impending  disaster.  In  the  meantime, 
the  doubts  and  fears  of  the  people  are  marked  by  their  indiffer- 
ence, if  not  positive  disloyalty,  to  the  church. 

The  people,  too,  are  not  ignorant  of  the  inconsistency  of 
many  churches  which,  as  corporations,  own  unsanitary  tene- 
ments and  exact  exorbitant  rents.  Yet  these  strongholds  of 
the  faith  resound  with  denunciations  against  these  very  evils. 
The  people,  moreover,  are  not  unconscious  of  the  extent  to 
which  members  of  the  churches  offend  against  justice  and 
morality  in  the  conduct  of  their  business  in  evading  the  laws 
framed  to  protect  the  poor  and  helpless.  Then  again,  the 
Church  wastes  its  energy  in  the  solution  of  secondary  prob- 
lems, such  as: 

Total  abstinence. 

Closing  of  public  places  on  Sunday,  art  galleries,  recreation 
centers,  etc. 

Amusement  on  Sunday. 

Small  wonder  that  the  people  lose  patience  with  the  Church, 
which  aims  so  often  to  deny  the  workingman  the  only  pleasure 
possible  for  him  by  an  open  Sunday.  At  the  same  time  the 
workingman  can  not  fa.il  to  notice  the  opening  of  golf  clubs  in 
the  country,  the  automobile  trips,  etc.,  etc.,  which  are  attractions 
to  the  rich,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  with  scarcely  a  word  of  con- 
demnation from  the  churches.  It  is  impossible  for  the  people 
not  to  get  the  impression  that  the  churches  are  more  interested 
practically  in  the  welfare  of  the  rich  than  in  that  of  the  poor. 

Then  again,  the  working  people  have  concluded  that  the 
evils  which  they  suffer  in  the  industrial  world  could  in  a  mo- 
ment be  removed  if  the  captains  of  industry  were  disposed  to 
treat  them  justly,  to  give  them  a  more  equitable  share  of  the 
profits  of  their  labor.  But  these  same  captains  of  industry, 
week  after  week  in  their  various  churches,  give  expression  to 
their  belief  in  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  pray  that  God's 
blessings  shall  rest  upon  His  children.  Yet  these  same  men 
nullify  in  their  conduct  on  the  market  place  and  in  the  factory, 
the  teachings  of  the  religion  which  theoretically  recognizes 


— 11  — 

neither  rich  nor  poor.  Since  the  churches  are  so  largely  main- 
tained by  the  rich,  who  are  regarded  by  the  workingmen  as 
their  oppressors,  they  can  not  be  induced  to  identify  themselves 
with  the  rich  man's  institutions.  This  attitude  of  the  working- 
men  is  well  described  in  a  statement  of  one  of  them,  "How 
can  we  pray  with  him  on  Sunday  when  he  preys  upon  us  during 
the  week?"  (Workingman  and  the  Social  Problem,  by  Stelzle, 
p.  95.) 

Although  the  Synagogue  is  free  from  strife  that  rages  in  the 
Church,  for  not  even  the  differences  between  the  various  wings 
of  Judaism  rest  upon  a  more  solid  foundation  than  social,  tem- 
peramental or  accidental  causes;  although  the  Synagogue  lays 
less  stress  upon  belief  than  upon  practice  expressed  in  cere- 
monials, which  are  regarded  at  best  as  valuable  shields,  or  fences 
to  the  laws;  although  the  Synagogue  has  shown  itself  wonder- 
fully adaptable  to  the  needs  of  every  age ;  although  the  Synagogue 
has  never  wasted  its  energy  on  the  solution  of  problems  which 
its  devotees  could  better  handle  by  themselves;  although  the 
Synagogue  never  assuming  that  it  has  brought  all  the  good  to 
mankind,  does  not  hold  itself  responsible  for  the  evil,  it  happens, 
nevertheless,  that  many  of  our  people  under  the  influence  of  the 
environment,  having  little  knowledge  of  their  own  religion, 
imagine  that  the  same  conditions  that  prevail  in  the  Church 
are  duplicated  in  the  Synagogue.  They  think  that  the  criti- 
cisms which  are  leveled  at  the  Church  apply  also  to  the  Syna- 
gogue, and  they  acquire  the  easy  habit  of  antagonism  toward 
the  Synagogue.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  to  a  certain  extent 
some  Synagogues  are  amenable  to  the  same  criticism  that  is 
aimed  at  the  Christian  Church,  but  wherever  the  causes  of  in- 
difference as  indicated  above  apply,  the  determining  factor  in 
their  origin  and  continuance  is  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
environment. 

The  Synagogue  itself,  however,  has  been  responsible  for  the 
indifference  of  some  of  our  people  to  Judaism.  In  a  number 
of  instances  it  has  refused  to  permit  the  Rabbi  to  serve  the 
Jewish  people  unless  they  were  affiliated  with  a  Synagogue. 


—  12  — 

Rabbis  have  been  known  to  refuse  to  officiate  at  a  funeral  or 
marriage  service  where  the  parties  had  not  been,  or  the  mem- 
bers of  their  families  would  not  be,  identified  with  the  Synagogue, 
unless  a  special  payment  be  made  to  the  congregation.  It  is 
true  that  anyone  who  is  able,  in  refraining  from  supporting  a 
Synagogue,  offends  against  a  primary  duty  to  his  people,  but 
it  is  a  policy  shortsighted  and  weak  which  would  restrict  such 
a  one  to  the  benefits  of'  Judaism  at  a  time  when  he  does  feel 
the  influence  of  his  faith.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  burden 
is  harder  upon  the  faithful,  but  the  open  door  policy  is  the 
only  one  most  likely  to  succeed  in  finally  winning  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  Synagogue  all  our  people.  At  any  rate,  the  "closed 
door"  has  had  influence  upon  many  to  confirm  their  indifference 
to  the  Synagogue. 

The  tragedy  which  is  being  enacted  in  many  Jewish  homes  is 
a  fruitful  cause  of  estrangement  from  the  Synagogue.  In  the 
New  World,  the  children  have  become  impatient  with  certain 
of  the  religious  ceremonies  of  their  parents,  and  the  many 
attractions  of  t!ie  new  life  make  rather  irksome  the  old  duty 
which  each  child  was  required  to  perform,  to  study  the  Torah. 
The  parents  find  it  difficult  to  exact  obedience  and  reverence 
from  their  children.  Many  children  of  the  immigrants  have 
become  ashamed  of  their  own  parents  and  their  ways  of  life. 
This  sad  condition  of  the  house  divided  against  itself  is  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  the  temporary  indifference  of  many  of  the 
rising  generation  to  the  duties  imposed  by  religion. 

Another  potent  cause  of  indifference  to  the  Synagogue  on 
the  part  of  many  of  our  immigrants  is  the  radical  difference 
between  the  Synagogue  in  America  and  the  Synagogue  as  es- 
tablished in  the  old  country.  I  refer  now  simply  to  the  external 
arrangements.  Dr.  Blaustein,  speaking  of  Jews  in  Russia  before 
emigration,  has  said  that  the  "entire  life  of  the  Jews,  intellectual, 
social  and  even  commercial,  centers  around  their  religion  and 
around  the  Synagogue — the  seat  of  religion.  In  addition  to 
being  the  house  of  worship,  the  Synagogue  is  to  them  the  school, 
the  lecture  hall,  the  club,  the  political  arena,  and  even  the 


-13- 

produce  exchange.  The  Synagogue  is  furthermore  the  only  place 
where  Jews  can  apply  and  utilize  their  talent.  ...  'In  other 
words,  having  no  opportunities  outside  the  pale  of  Jewish  set- 
tlement, the  Jew  must  confine  himself  to  the  limited  circle  of 
his  own  people.  The  old  Jews  still  use  ancient  Hebrew  as 
their  literary  language.  All  books,  be  they  religious  or  secular, 
are  written  in  Hebrew7;  newspapers,  daily  and  weekly,  are  pub- 
lished in  Hebrew,  and  business  correspondence  is  likewise  car- 
ried on  in  Hebrew/'  (University  Settlement  Studies,  July,  1905, 
p.  75.)  From  such  a  condition  our  people  have  come  to  an 
environment  in  which  the  Synagogue  has  been  divorced  prac- 
tically from  every  phase  of  Jewish  life  except  purely  the  religious 
worship.  Outside  the  precinct  of  the  Synagogue  flourish  the 
Jewish  societies,  clubs,  guilds ;  the  newspapers  and  periodicals 
are  not  under  the  direction  and  supervision  of  the  Eabbis;  groups 
of  Jews  from  various  cities  are  independently  organized,  some- 
times as  rival  institutions;  indeed,  a  seemingly  disorganized  mass 
without  head  or  tail,  which  is  sufficient  to  shake  the  confidence 
in  the  Synagogue  of  many  of  those  who  had  looked  to  it  as  to 
a  supreme  seat  of  authority  in  all  things  that  concerned  the 
'Jewish  people. 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  some  of  the  working  people  are  not 
drawn  to  the  Synagogue  because  it  is  almost  wholly  under  the 
control  of  the  wealthy  classes.  If  profession  is  to  be  balanced 
by  practice,  the  working  people  fail  to  understand  why  they 
are  excluded  from  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Synagogues 
with  which  they  are  expected  to  affiliate.  Very  few  of  the  Boards 
of  Directors  of  our  Synagogues,  not  excepting  a  well  known 
organization  which  claims  to  be  positively  free  in  its  cham- 
pionship of  all  kinds  of  policies,  have  a  representative  of  the 
poorer  classes  as  a  member.  If  our  democratic  ideal  will  be 
logically  applied,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  the  working 
people  will  flock  to  the  Synagogue,  which  shall  welcome  their 
representation. 

The  method  of  Synagogue  support  is  also  a  bar  to  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  poor  in  public  worship.  Our  Synagogues  charge 


-14  — 

an  exorbitant  rate,  comparatively  speaking,  for  the  ownership 
of  pews.  It  is  an  expense  hard  to  meet  by  our  working  people 
to  associate  themselves  with  many  of  our  Synagogues.  In  their 
pride,  they  refrain  from  attending  the  service  they  are  unable 
to  support.  It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that  there  are 
numerous  Synagogues  among  the  working  people  themselves, 
which  charge  as  low  as  two  or  three  dollars  a  year  for  mem- 
bership. 

No  doubt  the  most  determining  reason  for  the  neglect  of  the 
Sabbath  is  the  necessity  which  rests  upon  the  vast  majority  of 
our  workingmen  to  labor  on  the  six  recognized  working  days 
in  the  week.  It  is  simply  impossible  for  more  than  a  very  in- 
significant number  to  secure  such  positions  as  will  enable  them 
to  rest  on  the  Sabbath.  They  are  compelled  to  report  for  work 
on  Saturday  as  on  the  other  days  of  the  week.  On  the  subject 
the  Chief  Rabbi  of  England  has  said:  "I  believe  that  this  dis- 
regard is  due  not  so  much  to  a  relaxation  of  religious  sentiment 
as  to  the  fierce  struggle  for  existence  which  now  prevails,  and 
the  keen  competition  that  pervades  every  walk  of  life."  (Jew 
in  London,  p.  122.) 

Because  of  their  exhausted  condition  from  a  week  of  hard  toil, 
the  workers  are  frequently  unable  to  enjoy  the  Sabbath  in  peace. 
"Even  in  those  instances  where  there  has  been  a  cessation  of 
work,  how  is  the  Sabbath  kept?  They  that  know  the  terribly 
long  hours  during  which  the  presser  and  machinist,  the  cap 
maker  and  laster  and  factory  workers  have  toiled  during  the 
week  will  readily  forgive  their  keeping  in  bed  till  a  late  hour 
on  the  Sabbath  morn."  (Jewish  Chronicle,  January  5,  1906.) 
And  so  accustomed  do  they  become  to  absence  from  the  Syna- 
gogue, that  they  soon  lose  the  habit  of  attending  service,  and  in 
their  helpless  condition  grow  up  in  ignorance  of  all  that  makes 
life  worth  living. 

Many  workingmen  are  estranged  from  the  Synagogue  because 
the  strict  orthodox  wing  of  Judaism  no  longer  appeals  to  them, 
for  it  overemphasises  the  ceremonial  and  officially  endorses  ideas 
which  are  positively  no  longer  accepted  by  the  people  at  large, 


—  15  — 

Buch  as  the  "Resurrection  of  the  dead/''  the  Bible  as  the  literal 
word  of  God,  the  inferior  position  of  woman,  etc.,  etc.  The 
Reform  wing  of  Judaism  has  not  yet  won  large  numbers  of 
our  working  people  because  Reform  is  not  known  by  our  work- 
ingmen.  This  is  due,  to  the  greatest  extent,  to  the  misrepre- 
sentation, the  unjust  criticism,  the  passionate  denunciation, 
which  it  has  suffered  at  the  hands  of  those  who  wilfully  and 
ignorantly  condemn  it.  In  a  spirit  of  blind  partisanship,  many 
so-called  orthodox  Jews  permit  themselves  the  most  unbridled 
license  in  their  characterization  of  Reform  Judaism.  With 
oratorical  flourishes,  which  are  successful  in  their  appeal  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  passion  exhibited  by  the  speaker, 
many  leaders  and  preachers  misrepresent  it  to  our  working  people 
and  foster  the  spirit  of  group  prejudice  and  hatred.  Certain 
Jewish  papers  pour  out  column  after  column  of  misrepresenta- 
tion of  our  cause.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  editor  of  one 
of  the  leading  Eastern  Jewish  papers,  upon  receiving  a  signed 
letter  protesting  against  certain  unfair  and  misleading  repre- 
sentations against  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  at  the  very  mo- 
ment that  the  Eastern  Jewish  public  was  receiving  only  one 
side  of  a  bitter  controversy,  wrote  as  follows:  "To  my  very 
great  regret  I  find  myself  unable  to  print  the  accompanying 
[letter],  interesting  as  it  is,  and  putting  most  forcibly  a  view 
which  has  not  been  adequately  presented.  But  it  comes  rather 
late,  the  interest  in  the  matter  having  somewhat  waned,  and 
for  personal  reasons  I  have  not  given  much  space  to  the  con- 
troversy, since  it  would  be  rather  unsuitable  for  a  person  so 
closely  connected  as  I  am  with  the  Seminary  to  seem  to  inter- 
fere in  the  affairs  of  the  Hebrew  Union  College." 

And  again,  very  recently  some  prominence  was  given  in  one 
of  our  Jewish  periodicals  to  a  scurrilous  article  on  the  Reform 
Jew.  Subsequently,  the  writer  said:  "I  believe  then  that  if 
I  should  be  writing  the  article  now,  I  should  criticise  the  Ger- 
man and  Reform  Jew  much  less  severely,  and  I  should  be  less 
optimistic  as  to  the  Russian  Jew.  ...  I  shall,  however, 
study  up  the  subject  at  the  first  opportunity;  and  if  I  find 


—  16- 

anything  worth  saying  on  the  other  side,  I  shall  say  it  in  print." 
Just  think  of  the  absurdity  of  the  situation !  A  man  doing  a 
responsible  work  in  a  community  permitting  himself  to  deliver 
a  philippic  against  a  movement  before  he  takes  the  opportunity 
to  study  it!  Can  we  wonder  that  our  Russian  brethren  enter- 
tain the  most  absurd  notions  of  our  position,  are  distrustful  of 
our  loyalty  to  Judaism,  are  unacquainted  with  our  eager  concern 
for  the  welfare  of  our  brethren  all  over  the  world? 

Although  we  have  considered  the  alleged  causes  of  indiffer- 
ence to  the  Synagogue  on  the  part  of  many  Jews,  we  can  not 
begin  to  analyze  the  extent  of  the  devotion  of  the  people  at 
large.  To  the  institution  they  might  have  objection  based  upon 
a  fancied  or  real  grievance,  but  against  Judaism  the  very  fewest 
will  rebel.  It  is  impossible  to  measure  the  loyalty  of  a  people 
to  their  faith  by  the  standard  of  attendance  at  Synagogue. 
"God  says  to  Israel:  I  bade  thee  read  thy  prayers  unto  me 
in  thy  Synagogues;  but  if  thou  canst  not,  pray  in  thy  house; 
and  if  thou  art  unable  to  do  this,  pray  when  thou  art  in  thy 
field;  and  if  this  be  inconvenient  to  thee,  pray  on  thy  bed;  and 
if  thou  canst  not  do  even  this,  think  of  me  in  thy  heart." 
("Some  Aspects  of  Rabbinic  Theology,"  by  Schechter,  p.  156.) 
Workmen  were,  moreover,  permitted  to  recite  the  Shema  while 
in  a  tree  or  upon  a  wall  if  they  were  engaged  in  their  labor; 
they  were  not  compelled  to  descend  to  the  ground  or  to  go  to 
the  Synagogue.  (Ber.  ii,  4.)  If  one  should  be  riding  on  a 
donkey,  and  could  not  conveniently  dismount  to  recite  the  Shema, 
he  was  permitted  to  turn  his  face  toward  the  Sanctuary  and  recite 
it.  And  in  the  event  of  his  being  unable  even  to  turn  himself  to 
the  Sanctuary,  it  was  permitted  him  to  direct  his  heart  to  it, 
and  it  was  accounted  as  fulfilling  his  duty.  (Ber.  iv,  5.)  The 
law  permitted  one  who  happened  to  be  on  a  ship,  or  a  wagon 
or  upon  a  raft  to  direct  his  thoughts  to  God,  and  it  was  sufficient. 
(Ber.  iv,  6.) 

Even  with  the  regular  ritual,  much  leniency  was  permitted 
under  stress  of  necessity.  With  reference  to  the  Mussaph 
Prayer  the  sages  reversed  the  opinion  of  Rabbi  Eleazar  ben  Aza- 


-  17  — 

riah,  who  said  that  the  Mussapli  must  be  recited  in  the  Syna- 
gogue, by  stating  that  it  might  be  recited  without,  as  well  as 
within,  the  Synagogue.  Indeed,  Rabbi  Jehuda  held  that  if  the 
Mussapli  were  recited  in  the  Synagogue,  the  individual  was  free 
from  reciting  it  altogether. 

Judged  by  such  standards  which  are  reasonable,  it  becomes 
impossible  for  us  to  say  to  what  extent  our  working  people  are 
religious  or  irreligious.  There  is  no  method  by  which  we  can 
register  the  amount  of  a  man's  devotion  to  God,  his  love  of 
Israel.  While  at  his  task,  the  ordinary  workman  may  pray 
more  devoutly  to  God  than  the  most  faithful  of  Synagogue  at- 
tendants. With  every  stroke  of  the  hammer,  he  might  gather 
strength  and  determination  to  split  sin  and  corruption  to  frag- 
ments. With  every  stitch  of  the  machine,  the  worker  may 
fashion  in  his  imagination  a  garment  of  such  rare  intellectual 
and  spiritual  beauty  as  to  be  fit  to  clothe  a  poet.  Who  can  tell 
how  many  of  the  working  people  unable  to  attend  the  Synagogue 
during  the  week  as  well  as  on  the  Sabbath,  never  fail  to  oiler 
their  prayers  to  God  morning,  noon  and  night,  and  make  the 
earnest  effort  to  live  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Israel. 
Many  doubtless  fail;  but  the  dark  pictures  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  poor,  painted  by  many  investigators,  are  more  than 
checked  and  offset  by  the  bright  scenes  depicted  by  others.  It 
is  a  phase  of  the  subject  impossible  of  analysis  without  a  house 
to  house,  indeed,  person  to  person,  canvass,  conducted  not  by 
paid  agents,  but  by  trustworthy  friends  of  the  poor,  and  cover- 
ing a  period  of  years.  The  hasty  generalizations  so  freely  of- 
fered as  to  the  religious  condition  of  the  poor  "are  not  a  de- 
scription of  the  state  of  the  slums.  They  are  only  a  dark  and 
dreadful  description  of  the  state  of  the  slummers." 

Those  who  are  students  of  the  subject  know  how  great  an 
influence  the  Jewish  religion  exercises  upon  the  Jewish  people. 
In  their  heart  of  hearts  they  love  its  beautiful  and  noble  ideas; 
they  are  attached  to  its  poetic  and  appealing  symbolism;  they 
feel  themselves  a  part  of  that  sweeping  current  of  God's  holy 
spirit  coursing  through  the  centuries,  causing  hope  to  revive 


—  18- 

in  the  desolate  heart,  peace  to  thrive  in  barren  places,  and 
making  "the  desert  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose." 

Because  it  is  impossible,  utterly  impossible,  for  us  to  esti- 
mate with  any  degree  of  precision  the  undoubted  loyalty  to 
Judaism  of  the  vast  majority  of  our  people,  and  because  formal 
attachment  to  the  Synagogue  has  never  been  established  as  the 
final  test  of  a  Jew's  devotion  to  his  faith,  must  we  be  ever  on 
our  guard  to  resent  to  the  bitter  end  the  false  accusations  made 
by  the  press  and  on  the  platform  of  our  day. 

The  "muckrakers"  in  our  own  midst  are  doing  us  an  injury 
by  going  up  and  down  the  land  proclaiming  that  the  Synagogue 
is  doomed  because  it  muzzles  its  Rabbis,  gets  its  support  in 
ways  unaesthetic  and  commercial.  Wild  statements  are  made 
about  the  intolerable  conditions  that  surround  the  Jewish  pulpit, 
necessitating,  as  it  was  claimed,  the  withdrawal  in  the  course 
of  a  year  of  a  number  of  prominent  Rabbis  who  in  self-respect 
would  have  to  give  up  their  posts  of  duty.  When  these  state- 
ments are  subjected  to  the  keen  analysis  of  perfect  truth,  we 
are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  half-cooked  prepara- 
tions of  oratorical  mush.  The  "legitimate"  Synagogue  has  not 
been  guilty  of  raising  insignificant  matters  of  practical  admin- 
istration to  issues  of  philosophic  import.  Is  a  case  made  against 
the  Synagogue  which  does  succeed  in  spite  of  tremendous  ob- 
stacles in  holding  our  people  true  to  the  Sabbath  and  Holy 
Days,  when  critics  of  the  Synagogue  surrender  the  Sabbath, 
change  the  Holy  Days  and  boast  of  an  emancipation,  which  is 
nothing  but  unbridled  and  reckless  license?  Do  the  people 
actually  muzzle  their  Rabbi  when  they  plead  with  him  to  give 
them  spiritual  food  that  falls  from  heaven,  instead  of  the  chaff 
which  every  noisy  convention  blows  his  way?  Is  it  a  sign  of 
progress  to  have  all  kinds  of  contradictory  ideas  presented  in 
the  same  pulpit,  instead  of  a  consistent,  well-developed  philosophy 
to  which  the  Rabbi  stands  pledged  and  which  he  is  ready  to 
defend  ? 

We  do  not  want  to  be  understood  as  crying  "peace,  peace," 
when  there  is  much  need  of  correcting  certain  temporary  de- 


—  19  — 

fects  of  our  modern  Jewish  life,  but  at  the  same  time  we  are 
sure  that  many  who  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  are  nothing 
more  than  false  prophets. 

"Even  the  unrest  apparent  in  many  quarters  is  a  healthier 
sign  than  the  spiritual  stagnation  of  a  generation  back.  In 
the  past,  when  communal  life  was  more  compact  and  Jews  were 
solely  dependent  on  each  other  for  social  intercourse,  a  mechanical 
conformity  was  preserved  without  there  necessarily  being  any 
sense  of  conviction.  That  censorship  which  one  Jew  exercised 
over  another  has  become  impossible,  and  he  has  now  to  be 
guided  in  his  religious  observance  by  conviction  rather  than  by 
the  dictation  of  others.  This  is  a  much  healthier  state  of  things, 
and  although  it  involves  more  heterodoxy,  it  is  calculated  to 
produce  worthier  religious  life."  (H.  S.  Lewis,  "Jew  in  Lon- 
don," p.  235-f.) 

One  of  the  clearest  indications  of  the  strength  of  the  Jewish 
religion  among  the  working  people  is  the  absolute  failure  of 
the  missionaries,  who  work  on  so  elaborate  a  scale  to  convert 
our  men,  women  and  children  to  Christianity.  From  all  reports 
of  these  movements,  that  come  to  us  through  the  secular  and 
religious  press,  it  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  our  people,  with 
an  almost  negligible  exception,  are  unalterably  loyal  to  the  faith 
of  our  fathers.  From  a  Christian  source,  the  following  state- 
ment is  noteworthy:  "So  far  from  the  problem  of  the  effective 
evangelization  of  these  Jewish  millions  having  been  solved,  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  has  not 
even  yet  been  realized."  (Jewish  Chronicle,  October  2,  1908. 
Report  of  the  London  Society  for  Promoting  Christianity  Among 
Jews.) 

The  Strength  of  the  Synagogue. 

It  is  well  nigh  impossible  at  the  present  time  to  give  an 
accurate  number  of  Synagogues  and  members  of  Synagogues 
in  the  United  States.  In  a  recent  report  issued  by  the  United 
States  Government,  it  was  stated  that  the  total  number  of 


—  20  — 

Synagogues  in  the  United  States  in  1906  was  1769,  with  a 
membership  of  101,457  heads  of  families.  But  this  figure  is 
too  small  according  to  the  records  of  the  Jewish  Publication 
Society,  which  had  enumerated  up  to  1906  nearly  one  hundred 
more  Synagogues.  From  the  reports  of  the  Society  I  have  counted 
as  many  as  2,114  Synagogues  in  the  United  States.  1,169  of 
these  Synagogues,  consisting  of  large  and  small  congregations  in 
the  great  as  well  as  in  the  small  towns,  give  a  membership  of  over 
100,640  members,  or  an  average  of  86  members  to  a  congregation. 
At  this  rate,  the  other  945  congregations  would  aggregate  a 
membership  of  81,270,  or  a  grand  total  of  181,910  members. 
If  every  member  on  the  average  is  the  head  of  a  family  repre- 
senting three  persons,  we  have  a  population  of  545,730,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Synagogue.  These  figures  tell  only  part  of  the 
story,  for  the  statistics  exact  as  far  as  they  go,  are  not  com- 
plete, as  my  study  of  Newark  conditions  reveals.  The  Year 
Books  of  the  Publication  Society  record  twelve  congregations 
for  Newark,  with  a  membership  of  1,069,  while  I  have  found 
twenty  congregations  with  membership  of  more  than  1,800  per- 
sons. This  number  is  not  large  enough  to  cover  the  many 
smaller  congregations  which  flourish  in  the  various  Talmud 
Torah  halls,  in  private  houses  and  lodges.  Assuming  that  this 
condition  is  duplicated  in  the  country  at  large,  attachment  of 
our  people  to  the  Synagogue  is  by  far  more  extensive  than  we 
had  imagined.  With  a  Jewish  population  of  1,777,185  in  the 
United  States,  as  it  is  estimated,  by  whom  2,114  Synagogues 
are  supported,  we  find  that  there  is  on  the  average  one  Syna- 
gogue for  every  840  Jews.  This  does  not  include  the  many 
Synagogues  that  are  not  recorded,  but  of  whose  existence  there 
is  little  doubt.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  noted  that  some  of 
the  Synagogues  included  in  my  computation  are  open  for  ser- 
vices only  on  the  High  Holidays.  The  affiliation  of  Jews  with 
the  Synagogues  in  the  country  at  large  is  on  the  whole  not 
unsatisfactory,  and  by  far  not  as  bad  as  some  of  our  friends, 
as  well  as  our  foes,  would  have  us  believe. 

Even  in  New  York  City  conditions  are  not,  can  not  be,   as 


—  21  — 

I  Kid  as  pictured.  The  Year  Books  report  something  like  563 
Synagogues  in  Greater  New  York.  259  of  these  Synagogues  in 
1906  reported  a  membership  of  26,804  persons,  or  103  persons 
to  a  Synagogue.  At  this  rate  Jewry  in  New  York  is  58.607 
strong  as  far  as  membership  in  Synagogues  is  concerned.  This 
is  really  a  conservative  estimate.  Now,  allowing  that  each 
member  represents  three  persons  at  least,  we  have  a  total  of 
175,821  Jews  under  the  influence  of  the  Synagogue.  Estimating 
the  Jewish  population  of  New  York  City  at  750,000  persons, 
we  have  20.9  percentage  of  Jews  belonging  to  congregations, 
liemembering  that  there  are  innumerable  halls  and  homes  which 
are  regularly  thrown  into  Synagogues  on  the  Sabbath  and  Holy 
Days,  we  might  expect  to  find  the  estimate  above  referred  to 
considerably  increased. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  we  have  the  right  to  question  the 
rather  startling  announcements  made  by  Dr.  Walter  A.  Laidlaw 
and  others  as  to  the  loyalty  of  Jews  to  the  Synagogue,  in  his 
" Study  of  the  Jews  of  New  York  as  Observed  in  Ten  Years' 
Investigation/'  But  until  we  know  how  the  statistics  were 
compiled,  we  can  not  but  doubt  their  accuracy,  especially  in 
view  of  the  statement  made  by  Dr.  Laidlaw  himself  in  1905 : 
"In  that  whole  section  of  Manhattan,  south  of  14th  Street, 
east  of  Broadway,  there  are  more  Synagogues  than  there  are 
Protestant  Churches  in  the  whole  Island.  .  .  .  There  are, 
to  my  knowledge,  less  than  350  Protestant  Churches  on  Man- 
hattan Island."  (Amer.  Heb.,  May  19,  1905.)  Is  not  this 
an  exceptionally  good  showing  for  our  people,  who  form  less 
than  one-third  the  general  population  of  New  York  City? 

What  Synagogue  Does. 

The  most  convincing  appeal  which  the  Synagogue  can  make 
to  the  working  people  for  their  allegiance  and  support  is  a 
record  of  its  labor  in  their  behalf.  It  is  often  overlooked  even 
by  those  who  represent  the  Synagogue,  that  it  is  -the  influence 
of  the  Synagogue,  directly  or  indirectly,  that  is  gradually  im- 
proving the  lot  of  the  working  people. 


—  22  — 

In  the  first  place,  the  very  ideals  which  have  become  the 
property  of  the  masses  were  conceived,  formulated  and  promul- 
gated by  the  Synagogue.  As  the  people  today  agitate  and  labor 
for  more  equitable  conditions,  better  standards  of  justice,  they 
do  not  know,  or  will  not  admit,  that  it  is  due  to  the  success 
which  has  attended  the  efforts  of  the  Synagogue  in  spreading 
its  teachings  broadcast  that  they  cherish  these  ideas  at  all.  The 
ideas  of  justice,  righteousness  and  charity  were  formulated  by 
the  prophets,  it  is  true;  but  they  have  been  preserved  by  the 
Eabbis  in  the  Synagogues  of  Israel  all  through  the  ages. 

It  is,  moreover  directly  traceable  to  the  influence  of  the  Syna- 
gogue that  so  many  institutions  of  every  description  devoted 
to  the  amelioration  of  the  poor,  are  founded  and  supported  in 
our  day.  A  merely  cursory  glance  over  the  list  of  contributors 
to  our  various  charitable  and  educational  institutions  in  any 
community  will  reveal  a  very  noteworthy  fact,  that  the  very 
largest  percentage  of  the  supporters  are  identified  with  the 
Synagogue.  In  large  cities  where  a  large  percentage  of  Jews 
are  not  affiliated  directly  with  the  Synagogue,  it  is  observable 
that  only  a  small  percentage  of  contributors  to  our  institutions 
is  found  outside  of  the  Synagogue.  These  institutions  with 
scarcely  an  exception  are  devoted  to  the  work  of  improving  the 
general  conditions  of  our  people  through  hospitals,  nurseries, 
asylums,  relief  societies,  educational  institutions,  social  centers, 
religious  classes  and  houses  of  worship,  all  of  which  in  all  our 
cities  are  most  largely  supported  by  men  and  women  connected 
with  the  Synagogue.  To  the  credit  of  the  Synagogue,  in  all 
fairness,  must  be  recorded  the  great  work  done  largely  for 
the  poor,  by  these  many  institutions. 

What  is  true  of  the  institutions  applies  to  the  men  and  women 
doing  the  work  that  is  telling  in  its  influence  for  good  upon 
the  lives  of  our  poor.  The  consecration  which  the  Synagogue 
gave  them,  the  inspiration  to  a  life  of  service  imparted  to  them 
in  its  name,  have  aroused  devoted  servants  of  the  people  to 
go  forth  and  labor  for  their  welfare.  Very  few,  indeed,  are 


—  23  — 

they  who  are  eyes  to  the  blind  and  feet  to  the  lame,  who  have 
not  been  inspired  to  their  work  by  the  religious  spirit. 

On  many  occasions,  too,  the  Rabbis  have  raised  their  voices 
in  defense  of  the  workingman;  they  have  served  on  arbitration 
committees,  championed  their  cause  and  brought  about  settle- 
ments between  them  and  their  employers. 

It  is  time  for  the  Synagogue,  especially  when  put  on  the  de- 
fensive, as  in  our  day,  to  speak  out  clearly  as  to  its  unremitting 
toil  in  behalf  of  the  poor,  its  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  cause 
of  justice,  its  courageous  stand  in  the  presence  of  the  powerful 
and  mighty  to  plead  for  peace  and  righteousness. 

Let  not  the  Synagogue  in  appealing  to  the  masses  for  their 
support,  pamper  and  patronize  them  by  a  false  confession  of 
its  weakness.  The  Synagogue  need  not  apologize  to  the  Jewish 
people,  for  it  has  never  forsaken  them.  The  Synagogue  need 
not  change  any  of  its  fundamental  pronouncements  in  order  to 
please  any  class  in  modern  Jewry,  for  it  has  never  failed  to 
represent  all  members  of  the  household  of  Israel  at  all  times. 
Here  and  there  abuses  may  have  flourished,  disregard  of  the 
unity  and  peace  of  the  whole  community  go  unchecked,  but 
these  were  individual  outbreaks  of  men  connected  with,  not  the 
official  expression  of,  the  Synagogue.  And  while  the  institution 
largely  reflects  the  individuals  that  compose  it,  the  recognition 
of  their  ultimate  independence  in  Jewry  has  enabled  the  Syna- 
gogue, to  a  marked  degree,  to  keep  free  from  the  compromises 
and  changes  which  characterize  the  growth  of  the  Christian 
Church.  The  Synagogue  need  not  admit  to  the  Jewish  working- 
man  today  that  he  has  been  neglected  by  it.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Synagogue  can  with  full  justice  demand  an  explanation 
from  the  workingman  for  his  indifference  to  its  honor  and  wel- 
fare. The  Synagogue  has  reason  to  resent  to  the  point  of  de- 
fiance, the  insinuations  of  some  of  its  representatives  that  in 
its  teachings  the  cause  of  justice  to  all  classes  and  conditions 
of  men  has  not  been  safeguarded.  They  are  the  false  prophets 
who  read  the  book  of  God's  secrets  by  the  glare  of  the  street 
lamp,  in  the  blaze  of  the  banquet  hall  and  the  public  place 


—  24  — 

instead  of  by  the  subdued,  steady  and  soft  gleam  of  the  holy 
incense  of  the  Sanctuary. 

Besides,  the  Synagogue  in  its  sanity  and  poise  is  not  prepared 
to  say  that  present  conditions  in  every  sphere  of  life  are 
worse  than  former  days.  It  has  never  said  that  the  former 
days  are  better  than  these  days.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  if  the  Synagogue  felt  it  necessary  to  speak  at  all, 
in  no  uncertain  terms,  it  would  be  prepared  to  say  and  to  prove 
that  these  days  are  far  better  than  the  former  days  when  slavery 
flourished,  when  the  poor  were  sold  for  debt,  when  man's  toil 
was  unrelieved  by  the  help  of  machines,  when  his  leisure  was 
fearfully  circumscribed  by  his  environment,  out  of  touch  with 
the  centers  of  learning,  distant  from  his  fellows,  all  in  all  a 
life  without  the  charms  of  our  enlightened  times.  And  as  for 
abuses  and  outrages,  exploitation  and  deception,  the  ancient 
days  can  reveal  to  us  a  more  harrowing  scene  than  our  imag- 
ination can  conjure  up.  But  let  us  not  raise  the  curtain  upon 
the  evils  of  the  past.  We  surely  have  enough  of  them  in  our 
day.  And  to  their  solution  the  Synagogue,  as  well  as  the 
Church,  must  devote  its  full  strength  and  most  earnest  service. 
But  the  Synagogue  in  working  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on 
earth  will  not  assume  that  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  has  already 
arrived.  It  keeps  ever  in  mind  that  men  may  hasten  or  hinder 
its  coming  according  as  they  obey  God's  laws.  But  here  and 
now  men  are  not  angelic;  they  manifest  traits  which  merit  God's 
disfavor.  It  can  not,  therefore,  hold  itself  responsible  for  evil 
conditions  which  are  inherent  in  the  social  body.  If  these 
evils  were  not  here,  there  would  be  no  need  of  Synagogue  and 
Church  to  correct  them. 

The  attitude  of  the  Synagogue  has  been  unequivocally  friendly 
to  the  workers.  In  fact,  the  Synagogue  has  not  looked  upon 
them  as  a  separate  class  whatsoever.  The  employers  have  not 
been  more  welcome  than  the  laborers;  in  all  ages  the  Synagogue 
has  regarded  them  as  equal  before  God,  and  has  defended  and 
protected  the  one  as  readily  as  the  other.  The  Rabbis  point 
out  how  God  Himself  is  pictured  as  a  workman  who  with  a 


—  25  — 

divine  plan  and  with  infinite  wisdom  creates  a  world  in  which 
everything  is  beautiful  and  good.  The  Bible  is  replete  with 
illustrations  drawn  from  the  life  of  workingmen.  On  almost 
every  page  the  place  of  the  workingman  "who  goes  forth  to 
his  labor  until  the  evening"  is  idealized.  The  Fourth  Command- 
ment with  its  wise  injunction  to  man  to  rest  is  really  an  ex- 
altation of  labor  which  is  crowned  by  Sabbath  rest. 

"Hate  not  toilsome  labor,  nor  husbandry  which  the  Most  High 
has  created."  (Eccles.  vii,  16.) 

Saul  was  taken  from  the  plow  to  become  the  first  king  in 
Israel.  David  was  summoned  from  the  field  where  he  had 
tended  the  sheep  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  ruler  in  Israel. 

"In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread."  (Gen.  iii;,  19.) 
The  word  'ebed  servant  applied  to  prophets  in  Israel  was  the 
designation  of  the  workman  also. 

"Sleep  of  a  laboring  man  is  sweet,  whether  he  eat  little  or 
much;  but  the  abundance  of  the  rich  will  not  suffer  him  to 
sleep."  (Eccles.  5,  12.) 

RABBINICAL. 

Importance  of  Work. — "Man  can  not  be  brought  under  the 
yoke  of  work  too  soon."  (Midrash  Echa,  chap,  iii.) 

"Every  father  must  instruct  his  son  in  some  kind  of  occu- 
pation." (Berachoth,  65.) 

"A  parent  who  fails  to  teach  his  son  a  trade  teaches  him  to 
steal."  (Kiddushin,  29.) 

"Four  things  should  become  a  habit  to  man  and  practiced 
regularly:  the  study  of  God's  word,  charity,  piety  and  work." 
(Berachoth,  32.) 

"Because  of  the  importance  of  work,  idleness  is  assigned  by 
the  Eabbis  as  the  cause  of  death,  and  the  loss  of  Paradise." 
(Mid.  to  Gen.  ii,  chap.  17.) 

Dignity  of  Work. — "No  man  shall  say,  I  am  too  high  for 
this  or  that  work:  I  am  the  son  of  a  great  man  or  the  offspring 
of  a  noble  family."  (Aboth  de  R.  N.,  chap,  xi.) 


-26  — 

"God  has  arranged  that  each  individual  should  find  his  work 
agreeable  and  prefer  it  to  any  other  work,  no  matter  how  bur- 
densome." (Berachoth,  43b.) 

"An  honest  workingman  stands  higher  than  a  man  of  noble 
birth."  (Mid.  to  Gen.,  chap,  xxiii.) 

"Flay  a  carcass  on  the  street,  and  say  not,  I  am  a  priest, 
or  a  great  man.  Any  kind  of  work  is  more  honorable  than 
idleness  and  being  supported  by  others."  (B.  B.,  llOa.) 

Work  Superior  to  Prayer. — "One  is  not  allowed  to  say,  'I 
shall  pray  and  worship  continually  and  God  will  provide  for 
me  all  that  I  need.":  (Tanchuma  to  Gen.  xxxi.) 

"He  is  a  pious  man  who  expects  least  of  God  and  does  most 
for  himself."  (Mid.  Tehillim,  chap.  Ixxix.) 

"An  excellent  thing  is  the  study  of  the  Tor  ah  combined  with 
some  worldly  occupation,  for  the  labor  demanded  by  them  both 
makes  sin  to  be  forgotten.  All  study  of  the  Torah  without 
work  must  in  the  end  be  futile  and  become  the  cause  of  sin." 
(Aboth  ii,  2  Singer's  Translation.) 

Justice  to  Laborer. — "The  agreement  between  employer  and 
emplo3ree  must  specify  as  to  the  kind  of  work,  the  time  of  its 
beginning,  and  the  compensation  for  it."  (B.  M.,  83a.) 

"The  laborer  is  not  to  be  compelled  to  do  such  work  that 
might  impair  his  health."  (B.  M.,  77a.) 

"No  laborer  could  be  compelled  to  work  overtime  even  though 
the  master  permitted  him  special  pay."  (B.  M.,  83a.) 

"Laborer  could  bring  suit  if  he  failed  to  receive  his  hire 
within  twelve  hours  after  his  pay  became  due."  (B.  M.,  3a.) 

"Employer  who  failed  to  make  all  the  necessary  provisions 
for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  his  employees  was  held  responsible 
by  the  law."  (B.  K.,  33a.) 

In  practice,  too,  the  Rabbis  indicated  their  appreciation  of 
the  honor  of  labor.  The  early  teachers  in  Israel  did  not  re- 
ceive a  compensation.  They  earned  their  livelihood  in  the  trades 
and  professions  of  their  day  as  did  the  people  at  large.  Rabbi 
Joseph  turned  a  mill ;  Rabbi  Chanina  was  a  shoemaker ;  Rabbi 
Abba  was  a  tailor;  Abba  Saul  was  a  gravedigger;  Jose  a  leather- 


—  27  — 

dresser;  Jochanan  was  a  sandal-maker;  Simeon  an  embroiderer; 
Nehemiah  a  potter;  Abba  Oshaja  a  dyer;  Abin  a  carpenter; 
Joshua  ben  Chananja  a  clasp-maker;  Joshua  ben  Illai  a  cooper 
by  trade,  et  al. 

What  the  Synagogue  can  do. 

Because  of  its  friendliness  to  both  parties,  the  Synagogue  in 
its  official  capacity  can  do  little,  and  should  attempt  to  do  little, 
directly  to  champion  the  interests  of  the  workingman  against 
the  employer.  Indeed,  it  is  clear  that  whatever  affects  one 
class  surely  affects  the  other.  The  Synagogue  knows  no  laborer, 
recognizes  no  employer;  in  its  sacred  precincts,  to  all  workers, 
be  they  rich  or  poor,  native  or  foreign  born,  one  law  applies, 
and  that  law  the  strict  law  of  justice. 

If  the  Synagogue  in  its  official  capacity  were  to  turn  to 
champion  the  cause  of  the  laboring  man  against  his  employer, 
simply  by  reason  of  its  inability  to  speak  with  authority  on  any 
subject  outside  of  religion,  it  would  be  not  at  all  unlikely  that 
a  temporary  victory  gained  by  the  Synagogue  would  become 
ultimately  of  grave  peril  and  danger  to  the  interests  of  the 
very  class  it  had  sought  to  help.  It  is  impossible  for  the 
Synagogue  to  master  the  necessary  details  of  a  great  economic 
problem  to  warrant  the  attempt  to  solve  it.  The  problem  did 
not  grow  over  night,  nor  will  be  untangled  in  a  day.  The, 
Synagogue  will  do  sufficient  towards  its  final  settlement  when 
it  thunders  in  the  presence  of  both  classes  who  are  equally  dear, 
that  there  are  rules  which  must  be  obeyed  by  both  parties  as 
they  enter  the  contest.  The  Synagogue  must  stand  near  to 
insist  as  far  as  possible  that  the  rules  of  the  contest,  justice, 
righteousness,  and  kindliness  shall  not  be  ignored  by  either 
party. 

It*  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  Christian  Church  which, 
with  a  laudable  zeal  and  devoted  interest,  has  set  to  herself 
nothing  short  of  the  task  of  solving  this  vexing  problem,  has 
actually  done  little  else  than  appoint  committees,  delegate  rep- 


—  28- 

resentatives  to  the  labor  unions  and  formulate  plans  of  attack. 
A  great  agitation  on  the  subject  in  pulpit>  press  and  platform 
has  aroused  the  public  almost  to  the  conclusion  that  the  labor 
problem  is  solved,  whereas,  it  has  just  begun  to  be  recognized 
at  all.  And  we  are  as  far  from  a  solution  of  it  as  we  are  dis- 
tant from  the  Messianic  Era.  The  Church  as  a  Church  has 
not  recorded  a  single  triumph  of  consequence  in  its  work  among 
the  wage  earners.  Preaching  in  factories,  sitting  in  labor  con- 
ventions, signing  petitions  of  industrial  reforms,  agitating  for 
sanitary  factories,  protected  machinery,  better  housing  condi- 
tions, and  the  like,  the  ministers  of  the  various  denominations 
have  been  instrumental  in  effecting  many  needed  improvements. 
But  mark  you !  The  work  they  have  done  and  are  doing,  strictly 
speaking,  is  not  denominational.  Presbyterianism,  as  such,  has 
not  advanced  because  one  of>  the  active  workers  in  the  field 
of  labor  happens  to  be  a  member  of  that  church.  Episcopalian- 
ism,  as  such,  has  not  profited  as  a  church  because  it  has  added 
to  its  church  activities  a  labor  bureau.  A  well-known  worker 
has  said,  "There  have  been  various  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 
Churches  here  in  New  England  to  identify  themselves  with 
labor  movements,  or  rather  with  the  labor  people,  but  I  do  not 
believe  that  they  have  made  any  substantial  progress." — Edward 
T.  Hartman. 

It  is  true,  the  inspiration  to  the  work  of  industrial  reform 
was  imparted  by  the  Synagogue  or  the  Church  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  not  as  pledged  to  this  or  that  particular  reform 
or  in  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  either  party  in  the  industrial 
conflict,  but  simply  through  the  emphasis  and  interpretation  of 
the  old  principles  of  justice  and  righteousness  which  change 
not,  though  conditions  in  which  they  are  to  be  applied  continu- 
ally change.  The  inspiration  to  the  work  came  from  the  relig- 
ious institution,  but  the  actual  work  is  to  be  credited  to  the 
individuals  who  labored,  not  directly  as  churchmen,  but  as  men. 

If  the  church  undertakes  as  a  church  to  speak  with  authority 
upon  any  phase  of  the  labor  problem,  it  will  not  only  fail,  but 
endanger  its  very  existence.  In  the  first  place,  it  can  not  make 


—  29  — 

any  one  of  life's  many  interests  and  activities  its  chief  concern, 
nor,  again,  has  it  the  training  for  leadership  in  the  direct  field 
of  labor,  it  can  not  afford  to  lose  for  one  instant  the  guardian- 
ship of  the  very  highest  and  most  inclusive  influence  of  life, 
the  religious  consciousness;  nor  can  the  Church  without  harm 
to  the  future  bring  all  its  strength  to  bear  upon  the  solution 
of  a  problem  which  at  best  is  only  a  passing  phase  of  the  larger 
problem  of  life  itself. 

This  attitude  does  not  exclude  consideration  of  modern  prob- 
lems in  the  Synagogue.  We  can  not  live  in  the  world  and  not 
be  influenced  by  the  world.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Synagogue 
to  grapple  in  a  courageous  spirit  even  with  the  mightest  of  our 
modern  giants,  the  Industrial  Evil.  This  is  the  attitude  as- 
sumed by  a  great  teacher  in  Israel,  who,  though  he  takes  an 
occasional  fling  at  those  who  introduce  questions  of  sociological 
import  into  their  sermons,  includes  among  Some  Aspects  of 
Rabbinic  Theology  a  consideration  of  certain  phases  of  the  labor 
problem. 

The  Bible  abounds  in  similes  drawn  from  the  life  of  an  agri- 
cultural people.  It  will  •  be  the  duty  of  the  modern  Synagogue 
to  show  that  the  teachings  of  Judaism  as  bearing  on  modern 
industrialism  are  clear  and  pertinent.  Judaism  with  its  peren- 
nial freshness  and  vigor  has  its  message  also  for  these  days. 

To  make  our  teachings  intelligible  to  our  people,  to  impress 
them  with  the  unchanging  character  of  our  God  amidst  an  ever 
changing  environment,  it  is  our  duty  to  speak  in  a  language 
that  our  people  understand,  to  draw  illustrations  and  instances 
from  the  industrial  life  of  our  day.  We  need  not  busy  our- 
selves to  discover  new  ideas  to  replace  the  eternal  principles  of 
our  faith;  it  is  sufficient  if,  by  apt  illustration,  we  make  the 
old  ones  intelligible  to  our  people  in  an  industrial  age. 

The  experiment  has  been  tried  in  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
Chicago  and  Cleveland  to  provide  a  free  Synagogue  for  the 
people,  and  so  successful  has  it  proved  to  be  that  it  seems  most 
worthy  of  repetition.  Ought  not  our  wealthier  Jews  in  our 


-30  — 

various  cities  equip  and  maintain  Synagogues  for  the  people 
in  the  midst  of  the  people? 

It  is  questionable  whether  the  plan  of  the  Mikveh  Israel  Con- 
gregation of  Philadelphia  to  open  its  old  building  to  the  poor 
for  worship  without  any  cost  is  altogether  wise.  The  poorest 
Israelite  would  take  a  keener  interest  in  the  Synagogue  if  he 
were  permitted,  according  to  his  ability  to  pay  something  towards 
its  maintenance,  even  though  the  sum  be  insignificant.  His 
sense  of  ownership  or  partnership  in  a  Sanctuary  of  God  ought 
to  be  aroused.  Instead  of  gratitude  to  the  rich  congregation 
for  the  privilege  of  worship,  he  would  feel  it  his  right  and  duty 
by  reason  of  his  sacrifice  to  give  it  his  attention.  It  is  not 
altogether  clear,  moreover,  whether  it  is  the  best  policy  to  seg- 
regate the  workingmen  as  such,  although  in  ancient  Alexandria 
it  is  reported  that  the  various  guilds  had  their  separate  sections 
in  the  Synagogue  (Succa,  51).  The  Philadelphia  experiment 
should  be  watched  with  interest  as  to  the  effect  of  giving  to 
our  poor  a  Synagogue  over  which  they  shall  have  no  control. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  "while  workingmen  are  poor,  they 
are  also  proud,  and  they  would  be  slow  to  connect  themselves 
with  an  exclusive  institution  which  might  possibly  be  dubbed 
'a  poor  man's  church.' >;  ( Stelzle,  "Workingman  and  Social 
Problems,"  p.  144.) 

If  it  is  not  possible  for  all  of  our  congregations  to  open 
branch  Synagogues  for  the  poor  in  our  cities,  it  may  be  prac- 
ticable for  them  to  devote  the  vestry  rooms  to  additional  services 
for  the  poor.  It  is  worthy  of  careful  study,  also,  how  we  might 
utilize  our  Synagogues  for  more  than  one  service  on  Sabbaths 
in  order  that  we  might  accommodate  the  working  people.  What 
would  prevent  our  holding  a  very  early  morning  service  or  an 
afternoon  service  for  the  benefit  of  our  working  people? 

As  of  old,  our  greatest  safeguard  and  bulwark  of  strength 
is  our  religious  school.  While  our  children  recite  with  joy  the 
principles  of  Judaism  and  learn  with  delight  its  laws  and  cere- 
monies, it  will  be  impossible  for  evil  to  overtake  us.  For  in 
the  religious  schools  our  children  will  imbibe  those  teachings 


-31  — 

which  will  enable  them  to  overcome  temptations  and  keep  far 
from  them  the  spirit  of  evil  which,  according  to  the  Rabbis,  dare 
not  cross  the  threshold  of  the  school. 

If  we  desire  to  perpetuate  our  faith,  our  most  zealous  labor, 
our  greatest  sacrifices  must  be  given  to  the  work  of  our  schools. 
No  matter  how  great  the  obstacles  to  a  religious  life  in  the 
industrial  world  may  be,  the  proper  religious  training  of  the 
youth  will  most  likely  prove  the  most  potent  factor  in  over- 
coming them.  In  every  city,  the  loyal  men  and  women  of 
Israel  ought  to  stir  themselves  to  build,  equip  and  maintain 
religious  schools  not  only  for  the  children  of  those  affiliated 
with  the  Synagogue  but  for  children  of  the  poor  as  well.  Unless 
the  poor  receive  this  help  from  their  brethren  more  fortunately 
placed,  they  will  not  be  in  a  position  to  found  schools  of  a 
higher  standard  and  efficiency  than  the  Chedarim  which,  while 
serving  the  needs  of  a  past  generation  not  altogether  inade- 
quately, are  positively  a  hindrance  and  a  detriment  today. 

As  an  example  of  what  a  community  can  do  toward  the  re- 
ligious instruction  of  the  children  of  the  poor,  the  Plaut  Memorial 
Hebrew  Free  School,  of  Xewark,  X.  J.,  might  be  cited.  The 
school  is  supported  by  the  Jewish  community  of  Xewark,  regard- 
less of  congregational  affiliation.  Some  nine  hundred  children 
receive  instruction  in  Hebrew  and  Jewish  history  during  the 
week.  For  over  twenty  years  this  school  has  been  a  center  in  the 
religious  life  of  the  Jewish  people  of  the  city.  The  personality 
and  ability  of  the  late  Superintendent,  Myer  S.  Hood,  have  been 
influences  of  great  benefit  to  the  children  and  grandchildren  of  the 
immigrants  from  Eussia.  His  success  lay  in  the  wisdom  which 
prompted  him  to  choose  as  his  assistants  loyal  Jews  and  Jewesses 
who  had  been  instructed  in  the  modern  principles  of  pedagogy. 
His  attitude  was  that  a  child  need  not  be  less  a  Jew  because 
American,  nor  less  American  because  a  Jew. 

The  school  was  not  a  growth  from  within  the  Jewish  section 
which  has  been  benefited  by  it.  The  school  was  conceived,  built 
and  maintained  by  Jews  outside  the  pale  of  Jewish  Settlement. 


—  32  — 

The  trustees  of  the  orthodox  Synagogues  did  not  "realize  their 
duty  and  open  their  houses  of  worship  to  the  young.  .  .  . 
They  do  not  understand  conditions,  or  will  not  understand 
them,"  wrote  Dr.  Julius  H.  Greenstone  with  reference  to  similar 
conditions  in  New  York  City.  "To  expect  them  to  come  to  the 
rescue,  and  to  realize  the  danger  in  their  policy,  is  time  wasted, 
danger  thrice  threatening.  .  .  . 

"Anyone  acquainted  with  conditions  must  admit  that  the 
future  of  American  Judaism  is  with  the  generation  now  growing 
up  on  the  East  Side,  and  it  is  here  that  our  rich  and  influential 
Jews  must  come  to  the  rescue  as  liberally  and  magnanimously 
as  they  did  when  the  economic  question  was  most  perplexing. 
Religion  as  well  as  cleanliness  and  fresh  air  must  be  forced  upon 
the  down-town  Jew.  .  .  .  The  permanent  help  must  come 
from  without;  until  that  comes  we  can  expect  but  little  im- 
provement in  the  religious  status  of  the  growing  generation  of 
our  down-town  Jewry."  (American  Hebrew,  September  4,  1903, 
p.  503.) 

It  is  now  being  admitted  that  all  social  work  to  be  thoroughly 
satisfactory  must  be  permeated  with  the  spirit  of  religion,  and 
the  most  helpful  workers  are  those  who  are  guided  by  religion. 
The  charity  organizations  among  our  own  people  as  well  as 
among  our  neighbors  are  mechanical  in  their  administration, 
unfeeling  in  their  assistance  to  the  needy,  except  when  under 
the  direction  of  workers  who  are  filled  with  the  joy  of  the  re- 
ligious consciousness.  The  settlements  which  are  divorced  from 
the  guidance  of  religious  men  and  women,  are  failing  to  reach 
the  heart  of  the  problem  which  they  have  been  expected  to  solve 
because  they  touch  only  the  superficial  things  of  life.  Men  and 
women  need  something  more  than  cold,  formal  ethics  as  motives 
to  noble  conduct.  They  require  a  sense  of  a  "divine  relation- 
ship," the  submission  to  authority  over  and  above  themselves,  a 
belief  that  humanity  in  its  age-long  experience  and  constant 
search  for  God  has  formulated  better  laws  and  devised  better 
ceremonies  to  support  those  laws  than  any  individual  or  set  of 
individuals  who  trust  to  their  own  limited  powers  and  experi- 


-33- 

as  sufficient  guides  to  eternal  truth,  can  conceive.  There- 
fore, our  institutions  which  are  conducted  by  men  and  women 
of  a  negative  religious  outlook,  and  administered  without  regard 
to  the  religious  views  of  the  people  whom  the  institutions  serve, 
are  at  best  but  makeshifts  and  compromises. 

It  is  now  the  duty  of  the  Synagogue,  which  is  responsible 
in  largest  measure  for  the  very -existence  of  most  of  our  Jewish 
institutions,  and  from  which  to  the  greatest  degree  the  money 
for  their  maintenance  is  drawn,  to  arise  and  to  claim  her  own. 
While  she  need  not  assume  direct  supervision  over  them,  she 
has  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty  to  dictate  their  policy,  that 
they  shall  be  conducted  as  Jewish  institutions,  reaffirming  the 
principle  that  their  leaders  shall  be  loyal  Israelites,  so  that  the 
need  of  religion  in  the  development  of  the  individual  and 
communal  life  of  Jews  shall  be  properly  emphasized. 

There  is  a  great  opportunity  as  well  as  grave  responsibility 
resting  upon  the  Rabbi  in  our  day.  As  an  individual  he  can 
perform  in  the  name  of  the  Synagogue  a  tremendous  task  of 
such  importance  as  to  be  well  nigh  indescribable. 

While  the  Synagogue  can  not  be  accommodated  to  the  needs 
of  the  working  people  any  more  than  to  the  wants  of  the  em- 
ployers of  labor,  the  Rabbi  as  its  messenger  can  bring  to  both 
classes  the  essential  teachings  of  the  Synagogue  that  bear  upon 
the  question  of  justice  in  the  industrial  world.  The  Rabbi  as 
the  representative  of  the  Synagogue  has  the  right  to  bring  to- 
gether for  friendly  discussion  the  representatives  of  capital  and 
labor  in  order  that  by  exchange  of  views  each  side  may  have 
greater  regard  for  the  justice  of  each  other's  attitude,  and  by 
mutual  concession  put  themselves  in  the  way  of  ultimate  peace. 
The  Rabbi  is  the  logical  person  in  our  Jewish  world  to  do  most 
toward  the  improvement  of  the  lot  of  the  workingman.  If  he 
has  thoroughly  understood  his  function  and  has  been  jealous 
of  the  dignity  and  purpose  of  the  Synagogue,  he  has  surely  won 
in  whatever  community  he  lives  the  respect  of  the  employer 
and  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  wage  earner.  This  posi- 
tion of  trust  imposes  upon  him  a  great  duty  and  offers  him  a 


-  34  — 

splendid  advantage.  As  an  individual  he  must  keep  himself 
thoroughly  informed  of  conditions  in  the  industrial  world. 
From  time  to  time  he  would  do  well  to  consult  labor  leaders, 
seek  conferences  with  employers,  visit  among  the  worldngmen, 
simply  for  the  purpose  of  knowing  men  and  learning  the 
issues  of  the  day.  And  when  the  outbreaks  threaten,  if  he 
does  not  actually  succeed  in  preventing  them,  he  will  be  in 
a  position  to  recommend  methods  of  procedure  and  reforms  in 
practice  which  will  be  beneficial  to  both  classes. 

While  the  Eabbi  as  an  individual  can  do  much  to  bring 
together  the  representatives  of  capital  and  labor,  let  him  be 
careful  not  to  attempt  to  do  more  than  his  knowledge  of  the 
claims  of  both  parties  in  the  conflict  warrants.  Unless  the 
Eabbi  happens  to  be  an  expert  on  industrial  issues,  let  him  be 
sure  that  he  gets  complete  knowledge  of  all  the  principles  in- 
volved lest  his  oratorical  panaceas  make  him  the  laughing- 
stock of  those  who  intelligently  and  earnestly  struggle  to 
bring  peace  among  the  forces  of  capital  and  labor. 

If  the  great  Moses  was  forced  to  confess  that  he  could  not 
bear  alone  the  whole  burden  of  the  people  of  Israel  (Ex. 
xviii),  and  chose  out  able  leaders,  must  we  not  admit  that  we 
Eabbis  can  not  hope  to  carry  the  whole  burden  of  our  people? 
All  we  can  do  is  to  keep  alive  the  eternal  principles,  to  pro- 
mulgate the  laws  which  enable  the  men  of  understanding  and 
of  wisdom,  of  counsel  and  strength,  to  apply  them  to  the 
affairs  of  life.  We  should  not  do  less,  we  can  not  hope  to  do 
more,  than  to  point  the  way  over  which  our  people  must  pass 
if  they  love  justice  and  seek  it  sincerely  in  the  industrial  world. 

Success  not  infrequently  attends  the  efforts  of  the  Eabbi  to 
influence  the  Jewish  merchants  in  a  city  to  allow  their  Jewish 
employees  to  be  absent  from  business  on  the  holy  days.  It  is 
known  that  many  merchants  today  not  only  fail  to  comply  with  the 
old  law  that  commands  every  one  to  refrain  from  all  business 
dealings  on  the  holy  days,  but  also  refuse  to  permit  their  em- 
ployees to  enjoy  the  sanctity  of  the  service  and  the  rest  on  the 
holy  days.  By  keeping  this  important  matter  in  mind,  and  by 


—  35  — 

planning  to  do  earnest  and  persistent  work  in  behalf  of  the 
sanctification  of  Sabbath  and  holy  days,  the  Rabbis  may  be  able 
to  persuade  our  merchants  themselves  to  observe  and  to  permit 
their  employees  to  observe  the  religious  feasts.  Every  Jew  owes 
it  to  himself  to  take  the  opportunity  to  satisfy  and  develop 
his  spiritual  nature.  No  difficulty  is  ever  found  in  accommodat- 
ing ourselves  to  the  rest  enjoined  by  the  State  or  by  the  re- 
ligious festivals  of  our  Christian  neighbors.  We  owe  it  to  our 
self-respect  to  do  something  for  our  own  good  in  the  name  of 
God  and  Israel.  Whenever  the  laws  of  justice  are  offended 
by  employer  or  by  employee  the  Rabbi  again  with  courage  and 
confidence  should  boldly  challenge  the  wrongdoer  and  proclaim 
fearlessly  "Thou  art  the  man" 

Towards  this  end  this  Conference  can  be  of  great  assistance 
as  a  representative  body  of  Jewish  teachers.  Through  its  in- 
fluence and  direction  the  following  recommendations,  when 
properly  endorsed  and  adopted,  might  prove  to  be  effective 
agencies  of  the  Synagogue  in  its  relation  to  the  labor  problem: 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 
I. 

There  is  a  real  need  of  a  modern  leader  among  our  immigrant 
brethren.  A  very  large  element  of  the  East  Side  is  utterly 
without  religious  stimulus.  "The  Synagogues  as  at  present 
conducted/'  writes  one  of  the  submerged,  "do  not  attract  them, 
yes,  actually  repel  them.  The  influence  of  the  Rabbis  and 
'Magiddim'  is  less  than  nil.  ...  In  all  the  great  Ghetto 
of  New  York  there  is  not  one  English  speaking  Rabbi  to  whom 
the  young  can  look  up  and  follow.  There  is  not  a  solitary 
one  in  a  position  to  satisfy  that  spiritual  hunger  which  some 
of  us  know  to  exist.  .  .  .  Immortality  awaits  .  .  .  the 
Rabbi  who  can  see  his  life-work  down  here  among  the  most 
intelligent,  intense,  serious  and  well-intentioned  community 
in  God's  earth.  The  opportunity  is  here.  Where's  the  man?" 
(American  Heb.,  June  16,  1905,  p.  68.)  The  situation  de- 


—  36  — 

mands  the  foresight  of  a  statesman  and  the  self -sacrifice  of 
a  prophet.  The  gratitude  of  our  people  will  be  the  reward, 
and  a  commending  conscience  the  sure  recompense  for  earnest 
work  undertaken  among  the  poor  of  our  people  who  are  ex- 
ploited by  friend  almost  as  much  as  foe.  It  seems  possible 
to  provide  for  the  right  leader  by  recommending  to  the  Union 
of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  the  advisability  of  placing 
in  this  section  a  Rabbi  who  shall  limit  the  sphere  of  his  activity 
to  the  several  large  Jewish  centers  in  and  near  New  York. 
An  earnest,  able  leader  can  be  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
people  in  these  centers. 

II. 

If  it  be  true,  as  I  have  attempted  to  prove,  that  the  Rabbi 
acting  in  his  individual  capacity  can  exercise  a  great  influence 
upon  the  rich  and  poor,  the  employer  and  the  employee  to  the 
ond  that  a  better  industrial  era  be  inaugurated,  then  it  is  in- 
dispensable that  he  be  kept  well  informed  of  the  situation.  It 
is  not  enough  that  he  know  the  leaders  of  the  two  classes, 
represented  by  capital  and  labor  in  his  own  city,  he  ought  to 
know  their  aims  and  acts  from  a  national  and  international 
point  of  view.  His  comprehension  of  the  situation  in  the 
industrial  world  ought  to  be  clear  and  extensive.  Manifestly,, 
it  is  impossible  for  any  Rabbi  to  take  sufficient  time  from 
his  regular  studies  and  duties  to  enable  him  to  become  familiar 
with  the  many  phases  of  the  labor  problem,  and  to  gather  to- 
gether from  many  sources  and  to  study  the  statistics  compiled 
by  our  various  organizations.  Such  work  can  not  properly 
be  done  by  any  one  man.  But  a  Standing  Committee  in  Jewish 
statistics  might  be  of  great  service  to  the  Conference.  Such  a 
committee  shall  collect  from  every  available  source  statistics 
of  the  Jewish  people  in  all  phases  of  industrialism  as  they 
affect  the  .  Synagogue.  Monthly  and  quarterly  bulletins  might 
be  issued  to  all  members  of  the  Conference  Thus  the  members 
would  be  kept  in  touch  with  matters  of  greatest  concern  to  the 
welfare  of  our  people. 


-37 


III. 

Inasmuch  as  our  working  people  know  so  little  of  our  aims 
and  purposes,  and  have  been  led  to  believe  through  misrepre- 
sentation of  our  cause  that  liberal  Judaism  is  disloyalty  to  and 
compromise  with  our  faith,  it  would  seem  to  be  advisable  from 
time  to  time  to  publish  certain  of  our  proceedings,  lectures  and 
tracts  in  the  Yiddish  language  for  distribution  among  them. 
A  tract  on  Judaism  and  labor  would  seem  to  be  most  timely 
and  appropriate.  It  should  not  be  done  with  any  secret  desire 
to  convert  our  truly  orthodox  brethren  to  the  Reform  Jewish 
party,  but  to  give  them  information  which  will  enable  them 
to  get  at  the  truth  of  our  movement. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  opinion  often  expressed  will  be 
verified  in  fact,  that  many  thousands  of  our  brethren  who  now 
so  thoroughly  misunderstand  us,  will  recognize  that  they  stand 
on  precisely  the  same  platform  as  we  do  in  the  earnest  desire  to 
retain  all  the  fundamental  principles  and  preserve  as  much  of 
the  formal  side  of  Judaism  as  we  have  found  after  a  reverent 
search  reluctantly  undertaken  to  be  not  absolutely  incompatible 
with  the  highest  and  best  in  modern  culture. 

IV. 

The  Jewish  press  might  be  made  a  more  potent  influence  in 
bringing  together  the  wage  earners  and  the  employers.  At 
present  they  are  practically  divided  into  the  same  classes  that 
characterize  the  secular  newspapers  and  periodicals  of  the 
country  according  as  they  are  supported  by  the  forces  of  labor 
or  capital.  If  the  main  desideratum  in  the  amelioration  of 
present  conditions  is  a  full  knowledge  of  the  situation  on  the 
part  of  both  parties,  then  it  ought  to  be  the  duty  of  all  Jewish 
newspapers  and  periodicals  which  record  the  affairs  of  the 
world  to  publish  information  about  both.  Let  this  Conference 
suggest  to  all  Jewish  papers  the  advisability  of  including  in 
the  items  of  interest  about  the  capitalists  the  records  of  the 
struggles,  achievements  and  purposes  of  the  wage  earners.  It 


00 

—  oo 

would  tend,   perhaps,   to   amalgamate   more   closely   the   common 
interests   of  -our   people. 

V. 

The  Board  of  Governors  and  the  Faculty  of  the  Hebrew 
Union  College  would  not  take  amiss  a  suggestion  to  consider 
the  advisability  of  arranging  for  a  course  of  lectures  to  be  given 
each  year  at  the  College,  on  the  industrial  conditions  of  our 
day.  This  will  be  an  excellent  way  of  introducing  to  the  stu- 
dents a  subject  which  they  will  be  required  to  know  as  soon 
as  they  enter  upon  the  work  of  the  active  ministry. 

But  over  and  above  these  issues  of  practical  import,  all  en- 
grossing and  significant  though  they  be,  lies  the  sphere  in  which 
the  Synagogue  performs  its  indispensable  function. 

Let  the  Synagogue  continue  to  stand  without  compromise  for 
the  totality  of  things.  Let  it  resound  with  the  insistence  which 
has  always  characterized  its  teachings,  the  Unity  of  Mankind. 
Let  it  impart  those  principles  which  are  not  limited  by  time, 
place  or  circumstance,  the  prophetic  ideals  of  justice,  righteous- 
ness and  kindliness  which,  if  understood,  will  enable  men,  at 
all,  times,  in  all  places,  and  under  all  conditions,  to  improve 
their  environment  and  amend  their  lives.  The  sanctuary  in 
the  wilderness  never  moved  with  any  one  of  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  nor  was  it  ever  the  special  protector  of  any  class  of 
workers.  It  went  forward  with  all  the  people  and  it  belonged 
to  all  the  people.  It  was  the  medium  through  which  peace  was 
restored  in  the  whole  encampment  whenever  through  rebellion 
or  discord  the  people  drifted  from  God  or  hated  one  another. 

The  question  arises,  to  what  extent  can  the  Synagogue  make 
concession  to  the  spirit  of  the  times?  If  it  rigidly  excludes 
consideration  of  problems  that  are  of  paramount  issue  in  our 
day  and  rests  satisfied  by  denouncing  the  sins  of  ancient 
Samaria  and  condemning  the  evildoers  of  ancient  Jerusalem, 
then  it  is  evident  that  it  has  no  service  worthy  of  the  name  to 
render  its  existence  a  blessing  to  mankind.  If  the  Synagogue, 
on  the  contrary,  be  converted  into  a  political  platform  on 


—  39  — 

which  the  latest  utterance  of  some  "boss-ridden"  candidate 
shall  be  made  the  subject  of  serious  discussion  in  the  presence 
of  men  and  women  who  hunger  for  the  truths  of  religion;  if 
the  Synagogue  be  changed  into  a  lecture  forum  from  which 
learned  disquisitions  on  every  conceivable  literary  and  scientific 
theory  be  delivered  at  the  cost  of  the  religious  discourse,  then 
the  Synagogue  becomes  an  unnecessary  institution,  a  duplication 
of  work  which  can  be  better  and  more  effectively  done  under 
other  auspices. 

The  Synagogue  is  here  to  do  a  work  which  no  other  institu- 
tion is  equipped  to  perform,  the  important  work  of  keeping  alive 
and  intensifying  the  religious  consciousness  of  Jews  in  accord- 
ance with  the  best  traditions,  laws  and  usages  of  Judaism.  One 
aspect  of  this  religious  consciousness  is  the  feeling  that  amid 
the  changing  scenes  in  the  social,  educational  and  industrial 
worlds,  the  old  principles  of  perfect  justice,  righteousness  and 
mercy  are  as  unchangeable  as  God  Himself.  In  one  age  men 
may  tend  their  sheep;  another  generation  may  witness  a  change 
from  shepherds  to  agriculturists;  a  later  period  may  introduce 
the  machine  and  transform  the  whole  aspect  of  labor,  but 
beneath  all  the  changes  are  the  same  unalterable  laws  which 
men  do  well  to  remember.  This  is  the  work  of  the  Synagogue 
to  the  Jewish  people,  to  teach  them  that  the  God  of  Israel 
alone  ruleth  the  world  in  majesty  and  that  all  workers  are  His 
children.  It  has  wonderfully  succeeded  in  the  past,  and  if  it 
remains  true  to  its  ideals  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that 
it  shall  not  succeed  in  the  future. 

Appendix  A. 

OCCUPATIONS. 

"Unfortunately  there  is  no  census  of  occupations  especially 
directed  to  the  classification  of  the  Jewish  people  of  the  East 
Side.  But  a  study  of  the  census  of  the  occupations  of  the 
city  at  large,  of  the  report  of  the  Commission  of  Immigration, 
and  of  the  labor  movement  on  the  East  Side,  probably  throws 


-  40 


all  the  light  on  the  subject  that  a  general  statement  requires. 
.  .  .  Nearly  twenty  percent  of  the  Hebrew  immigrants  are 
tailors,  nearly  five  percent  merchants  or  clerks  and  almost  one 
percent  follow  the  professions.  Of  the  remainder  a  very  con- 
siderable proportion,  though  not  a  majority,  are  skilled  work- 
men, such  as  bakers,  tobacco  workers,  carpenters,  painters, 
butchers,  etc."  (William  E.  Walling,  in  University  Studies, 
July,  1905,  p.  80.) 

After  an  investigation  of  225  families  in  a  block  of  the  lower 
East  Side  of  New  York,  Dr.  Bernheimer  stated  that  "eighty- 
one  or  about  one-third  retained  the  same  vocation  as  abroad. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  the  largest  proportion  in  any  one  occu- 
pation before  coming  here  were  tradesmen,  viz.,  66  out  of 
225  or  about  thirty  percent."  (Jewish  Immigrant  as  an  In- 
dustrial Worker,  by  Dr.  Charles  S.  Bernheimer.) 

In  a  study  of  50  out  of  225  families  picked  out  at  random, 
Dr.  Bernheimer  indicates  the  occupations  in  which  Eussian 
Jews  are  engaged.  Peddlers,  pressers  and  egg-candlers.  pre- 
dominate. In  the  list  it  is  shown  that  some  of  the  workers 
who  had  been  tradesmen  were  reduced  to  the  rank  of  peddlers, 
laborers,  pressers,  painters,  skirt  operators,  etc.  A  former  shop 
foreman  became  a  cloak  presser;  a  real  estate  dealer  was  com- 
pelled to  work  as  a  salesman.  And  worst  of  all,  a  former 
teacher  was  forced  to  eke  out  a  living  as  a  peddler.  These 
instances  are  typical  of  conditions  prevailing  on  the  East  Side. 

Speaking  of  the  difficulties  which  confront  the  immigrant 
in  selecting  a  trade  in  America,  Dr.  Blaustein  says,  "The 
immigrant  is  not  accustomed  to  our  industrial  system.  He 
can  not  understand  our  division  of  labor.  He  finds  that  be- 
tween himself  and  his  employer  there  is  a  wide  gap.  If  he 
works  in  a  factory  he  feels  that  he  ceases  to  be  an  individual 
and  becomes  a  hand,  and  that  muscle  rather  than  intellect 
will  insure  the  permanency  of  his  employment.  In  order  to  be 
his  own  master  he  prefers  becoming  a  peddler,  and  in  New 
York  City  a  pushcart  peddler,  despite  the  long  hours,  the  hard- 
ship and  the  uncertainty  of  the  earnings."  (University  Set- 


—  41  — 

tlement  Studies,  David  Blaustein,  July,  1905.)  The  small 
capital  required  to  purchase  a  stock,  the  independence  of  the 
peddler  compared  with  other  forms  of  labor,  and  the  small 
expense  to  market  his  goods,  are  the  reasons  that  incline  the 
immigrant  to  embark  upon  a  mercantile  career  in  America  as 
peddlers. 

The  majority  of  Jews  in  Xew  York  City  are  engaged  in 
the  needle  industries.  While  the  exact  number  can  not  be 
stated,  it  is  probably  true,  as  has  been  found  in  England,  that 
no  less  than  one-third  of  the  total  number  of  male  Russians 
and  Poles  in  England  over  ten  years  of  age  are  employed  in 
the  tailoring  trade.  "It  can  not  be  said  that  the  Jewish  tailor 
has  been  convicted  of  any  very  pernicious  influence  upon  the 
trade.  He  has  introduced  new  methods  and  a  new  type  of 
workmanship.  .  .  .  His  work  is  confined  to  certain  branches 
which  he  may  be  said  to  monopolize.  .  .  .  But  this  is  perhaps 
an  instance  in  which  the  process  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  is 
tolerably  justified  in  its  results."  (Jew  in  London,  pp.  66-69.) 

"The  sons  do  not  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  fathers.  They 
become  clerks,  salesmen  and  professional  men.  They  add  to 
the  ranks  of  teachers,  lawyers,  physicians  and  dentists.  They 
are  becoming  prosperous  business  men.  .  .  .  The  immigrant 
girls  enter  the  shops  and  factories;  the  girls  born  on  American 
soil  go  into  offices  as  clerks,  bookkeepers  and  stenographers, 
or  they  enter  stores  as  saleswomen,  buyers  and  the  like,  or 
they  become  milliners  and  dressmakers. 

"It  is  true  that  the  Jewish  immigrant  does  not  become  a 
street  laborer,  a  railroad  worker  or  a  miner,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Italian  and  Slav  immigrant.  But  he  does  fill  other 
economic  wants.  Some  evidence  of  this  is  shown  in  the  record 
of  the  Industrial  Removal  Office,  whose  business  it  is  to  place 
Jewish  immigrants,  particularly  from  New  York  City,  in  other 
sections  of  the  country.  .  .  .  The  Jews  prefer  those  walks 
of  life  that  are  almost  universally  considered  to  be  the  higher 
walks.  Many  sentimental  and  well-meaning  persons  do  not 
look  at  the  matter  in  this  way,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  ninety- 


—  42  — 

nine  percent,  when  concerned  with  their  own  fate  and  that  of 
other  people  close  to  them,  prefer  the  commercial  and  profes- 
sional pursuits."  (Bernheimer.) 

The  prospects  of  the  future  are  bright  for  the  second  genera- 
tion, the  children  of  the  poor  immigrant.  Few  are  the  families 
which  have  not  been  making  great  sacrifices  for  the  education 
of  their  children.  Young  men  who  are  not  able  to  purchase 
more  than  the  most  ordinary  clothing  will  tell  you  with  pride 
that  they  are  students  at  Columbia  or  the  University  of  New 
York.  Others  who  cherish  ambition  to  enter  the  portals  of 
some  seat  of  learning  can  be  seen  any  day  rushing  hurriedly 
through  the  streets  importuning  all  they  meet  to  purchase  a 
paper.  The  sympathetic  ear  can  detect  in  the  appeal  the  de- 
termined note  which  means,  "To  enable  me  to  go  to  school." 
How  many  realize  that  the  poor  suspender  peddler,  the  toy 
vender,  the  pushcart  man  straighten  their  bent  backs  with 
justifiable  pride  when  in  the  evening  they  read  the  reports  of 
the  high  standing  of  their  sons  and  daughters  in  the  public 
schools,  or  learn  of  the  honors  won  by  them  at  the  University. 

"In  some  of  the  law  schools,  for  instance,  almost  nine-tenths 
of  the  students  are  said  to  be  Jews.  In  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  which  prepares  for  all  sorts  of  professional 
studies,  the  proportion  is  not  much  less.  .  .  .  Even  those 
who  are  not  born  in  this  country  go  to  evening  schools,  and  a 
great  many  pass  this  examination  and  enter  into  the  professions 
and  civil  service."  (Walling  in  University  Settlement  Studies, 
July,  1905,  p.  85.) 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  the  comparative  absence  of 
married  Jewish  women  from  all  kinds  of  occupations.  It  is  com- 
paratively rare  that  the  woman  is  impelled  by  necessity  to  go 
to  the  factory  to  work.  Some  male  member  of  the  family  will 
manage  somehow  to  protect  the  woman  from  the  hardship  of 
modern  industrial  life,  and  free  her  for  the  duties  of  the  home. 
(Jewish  Chronicle,  July  31,  1908.) 


—  43  — 

Appendix  B. 

TRADE  UNIONISM. 

"The  first  attempts  at  organization  among  Jewish  workmen 
antedate  the  main  influx  of  Jewish  immigration  into  England 
and  America.  The  first  union  of  Jewish  tailors  in  New  York 
was  organized  in  1877.  It  had  an  ephemeral  existence.  When 
in  the  eighties,  Jews  began  to  arrive  in  large  numbers,  the 
need  of  organizations  was  soon  realized.  Several  unions  came 
into  existence,  and  strikes  were  declared,  which  met  with  varying 
degrees  of  success/'  (Jew.  Ency.,  vol.  xii,  p.  217.) 

Prof.  I.  A.  Hourwich  then  describes  the  varying  fortunes 
of  the  Cloak-Makers'  Union  until  it  was  broken  up.  "With 
the  restoration  of  business  prosperity  in  1897  it  was  revived, 
and  has  since  had  a  continuous  existence,  its  paying  membership 
reaching  at  one  time  15000;  but  at  other  times  its  membership 
has  sunk  very  close  to  the  zero  point. 

"The  history  of  other  Jewish  unions  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
Cloak-Makers'  Union,  which  under  normal  conditions  has  the 
largest  membership.  The  weakness  of  all  Jewish  Unions  in 
the  tailoring  trades  is  the  fluctuating  character  of  their  mem- 
bership." Prof.  John  E.  Commons,  in  his  report  on  Immigra- 
tion and  its  Economic  Effects,  prepared  for  the  Industrial 
Commission,  speaks  as  follows  regarding  the  character  of  Jewish 
trade  unions  in  the  United  States: 

"The  Jew's  conception  of  a  labor  organization  is  that  of  a 
tradesman  rather  than  that  of  a  workman.  In  the  clothing 
manufacture  they  all  come  together  and  form  a  giant  union 
and  at  once  engage  in  a  strike.  They  bring  in  ninety-five  per- 
cent of  the  trade.  They  are  energetic  and  determined.  They 
demand  the  entire  and  complete  elimination  of  the  abuse.  The 
demand  is  almost  always  unanimous,  and  is  made  with  enthu- 
siasm and  bitterness.  .  .  .  During  a  strike  large  numbers 
of  them  are  to  be  found  with  almost  nothing  to  live  upon  and 
their  families  suffering,  still  insisting,  on  the  streets  and  in 
their  halls,  that  their  great  cause  must  be  won.  But  when 


—  44- 

once  the  strike  is  settled,  either  in  favor  of  or  against  the  cause, 
they  are  contented,  and  that  usually  ends  the  union,  since 
they  do  not  see  any  practical  use  for  a  union  when  there  is 
no  cause  to  fight  for.  Consequently,  the  membership  of  a 
Jewish  Union  is  wholly  uncertain.  The  Secretary's  books  will 
show  60,000  members  in  one  month  and  not  5,000  within  three 
months  later." 

There  are  various  causes  which,  in  a  general  way,  make  the 
Jew  less  distinguished  as  a  labor  union  man  than  his  Christian 
fellow-worker;  to  a  certain  extent,  they  are  to  be  mentioned 
as  an  honor  to  the  Jew. 

First,  there  is  the  "character  of  the  Jew,  who  has  an  inborn 
desire  to  be  'his  own  boss;'  the  ambition  of  the  Jewish  worker 
is  to  rise  above  the  working  class,  rather  than  to  improve  his 
own  condition  simultaneously  with  that  of  his  class."  The 
tendency  of  the  trades  union  to  lower  the  standard  of  the  really 
efficient  worker  has  estranged  the  Jew.  "The  Jewish  unions 
of  New  York  are  combined  in  a  central  body,  known  as  the 
United  Hebrew  Trades.  This  federation  comprises  the  unions 
of  those  working  in  the  clothing  trades,  of  compositors,  of  em- 
ployees of  the  Jewish  theatres,  and  a  few  minor  unions.  Some 
of  these  unions  are  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor."  (Prof.  Hourwich,  Jew.  Ency.  xii,  p.  217.) 

It  must  be  noted  that  many  thousands  of  Jewish  workmen 
are  affiliated  with  the  general  labor  unions,  the  membership 
of  which  is  largely  Christian.  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Kaminsky 
states  that  "the  Jewish  workmen  in  America  have  given  to 
organized  labor  no  ground  of  complaint  in  the  past.  They 
have  stood  by  their  fellow-workers  of  other  nationalities  in 
their  efforts  to  better  the  condition  of  labor."  (Federation 
Review,  June,  1908.) 


—  45  — 

Appendix  C. 

DISEASE. 

Frequent  reference  is  made  to  the  prevalence  of  disease 
among  Jewish  workingmen  by  irresponsible,  though  prominent, 
investigators.  .The  figures  cited  below  will  tend  to  disprove 
the  allegations. 

1.     Tuberculosis. 

"The  social  environment  of  the  bulk  of  the  Jews  in  Europe 
and  America  is  favorable  for  the  development  and  spread  of 
tuberculosis.  As  is  well  known,  town  dwellers  are  more  liable 
to  this  disease  than  inhabitants  of  the  country.  Hardly  one- 
sixth  of  the  Jews  in  the  world  live  in  the  country,  while  from 
one-half  to  three-fourths  of  the  non-Jewish  population  of 
Europe  and  America  are  country  dwellers.  This  alone  would 
lead  us  to  expect  that  the  tuberculosis  morbidity  and  mortality 
should  be  higher  among  Jews  than  among  Christians.  If  to 
this  be  added  the  social  factors  which  are  inimical  to  the 
health  and  well-being  of  town  dwellers,  such  as  indoor  occu- 
pations, we  should  not  be  surprised  if  we  found  that  they  are 
more  often  affected  by  this  disease  than  are  people  of  other 
faiths  who  mostly  work  outdoors.  They  often  work  in  sweat- 
shops, and  usually  live  in  old  and  unsanitary  parts  of  cities. 

"But  in  spite  of  all  these  unfavorable  conditions,  statistics, 
wherever  available,  show  conclusively  that  the  mortality  from 
tuberculosis  is  about  one-half  to  one-third  that  are  observed 
among  the  non-Jewish  population  around  them.  The  rates 
per  10,000  population  were  in  Berlin,  9.81  among  Jews  and 
21.66  among  Christians;  in  Vienna,  Jews  17.9,  Protestants 
32.8  and  Catholics  49.6;' in  Lemberg,  Jews  30.64  and  Christians 
63.51;  in  Roumania,  Jews  25.6  and  Christians  38.7;  in  Lon- 
don, Jews  13.3,  general  population  17.9;  in  New  York  City, 
Russian  Jews  17.24,  general  population  23.94.  In  fact,  the 
Jewish  inhabitants  of  the  lower  East  Side  of  New  York  City 
have  a  lower  mortality  rate  from  tuberculosis  than  the  rich 
and  prosperous  who  live  in  the  upper  west  side  of  the  city. 


—  46  — 

This  in  spite  of  the  exceptional  congestion  of  population,  un- 
sanitary surroundings,  dangerous  trades  in  sweat-shops,  mal- 
nutrition, anemia,  poverty,  etc.,  which  are  rampant  in  the 
lower  East  Side.  .  .  . 

Dr.  Fishberg  then  declares  that  "The  main  cause  of  the 
lower  tuberculosis  mortality  of  the  Jews  is  the  fact  that  for 
two  thousand  years  they  have  been  city  dwellers.  They  have 
thus  been  thoroughly  urbanized,  and  adapted  their  organism 
to  city  and  indoor  life.  Most  of  the  terrors  of  urban  conges- 
tion, indoor  occupations  and  unsanitary  surroundings  which 
breed  tuberculosis  among  people  who  are  not  adapted  to  such 
a  milieu  have  lost  their  significance  to  them."  (Tuberculosis 
among  Jews,  by  Dr.  Maurice  Fishberg,  in  American  Israelite, 
October  15,  1908.) 

2.     Alcoholism. 

"The  part  which  a  temperate  habit  of  life  has  played  in 
the  victorious  progress  of  the  Jewish  workman  can  hardly  be 
overestimated.  Of  all  the  circumstances  which  tell  in  his  favor, 
the  fact  that  he  does  not  get  drunk  is  one  of  the  foremost. 
And  although  this  superiority  to  alcohol  is  doubtless  in  part 
a  matter  of  physical  constitution,  it  must  also  be  regarded  as 
partly  the  outcome  of  a  disciplined  and  usually  tenacious  char- 
acter. The  poor  Jew  is  not  easily  demoralized,  and  can  spend 
his  life  without  respect  to  circumstances  in  the  unflagging 
pursuit  of  an  end."  (Jew  in  London,  by  Russell  and  Lewis, 
p.  64.) 

Dr.  Hall,  of  Leeds,  in  investigating  2,700  children,  instituted 
a  comparison  between  Jewish  and  Gentile  children  in  the  poorer 
schools  of  Leeds.  He  states  that  "at  eight  years  old  the  poor 
Jewish  child  was  on  the  average  three  pounds  heavier  and 
two  inches  taller  than  his  Gentile  comrade.  At  ten  years  of 
age  the  Jew  has  the  advantage  of  six  and  one-fourth  pounds 
in  weight  and  two  and  one-half  inches  in  height.  Fifty  percent 
of  the  Gentile  children  had  rickets,  and  only  seven  percent  of 
the  Jews."  He  attributes  this  to  the  better  feeding  of  the 
children  of  Jewish  parents,  and  he  proved  his  point  by  feedino- 


—  47  — 

a  certain  number  of  children  regularly  from  one  of  the  poorest 
schools  and  showed  that  they  increased  both  in  weight  and 
height  more  rapidly  than  those  who  were  left  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  their  parents."  (English  Child  Life,  by  Percy 
Alden,  M.  P.,  in  Outlook,  August  1,  1908,  p.  761.) 

Appendix  D. 

CRIMINALITY. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  industrial  evils,  such  as  in- 
adequate wage  and  lack  of  leisure  and  unsanitary  workshops, 
causing  congestion  in  the  home  and  under-feeding,  have  been 
conducive  to  the  spread  of  criminality  among  Jewish  working 
people  and  indirectly  among  their  sons  and  daughters,  but  the 
subjoined  statistics  utterly  refute  the  sweeping  charges  so  fre- 
quently made. 

"The  total  number  of  indictments  of  Jewish  persons  in  New 
York  County  during  the  year  1907  was  666.  Compared  with 
the  Jewish  population  of  New  York  County,  estimated  by  the 
American  Jewish  Committee  at  750,000,  as  of  December  31, 
1907,  the  total  number  of  indicted  persons  was  less  than  one 
in  every  thousand  Jewish  inhabitants  (0.0888%). 

"The  total  number  of  Gentiles  indicted  in  the  same  county 
during  the  same  period  was  3,907.  The  total  population  of 
New  York  City  on  December  31,  1907,  was  estimated  by  the 
Board  of  Health  at  2,687,800  persons;  this  leaves  for  the  Gen- 
tile population  1,937,800.  The  number  of  indicted  Gentiles 
was  accordingly  more  than  two  in  every  thousand  Gentile  in- 
habitants. These  figures  show  that  criminality  among  the  Jews 
of  New  York  was  not  one-half  as  high  as  among  the  Gentiles." 

"It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  an  indicted  person 
is  not  necessarily  a  criminal.  Of  the  666  indicted  Jews,  86 
were  acquitted  and  460  were  convicted,  while  120  were  dis- 
posed of  in  other  ways.  The  following  table  contains  com- 
parative statistics  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  convicted  of  crime: 


—  48  — 

"Jews  with  population  of  750,000  showed  .0613%  of  criminals, 
or  450. 

"Gentiles  with  population  of  i;937,800  showed  .1233%  of 
criminals,  or  2,388. 

"This  table  conclusively  disproves  the  sensational  clamor 
about  alarming  Jewish  criminality.  The  majority  of  convicted 
Jewish  criminals  are  not  of  the  violent  type. 

"The  same  tendency  is  likewise  reflected  in  the  penalties  to 
which  the  Jews  were  sentenced,  as  compared  with  Gentiles. 

"A  fact  of  great  significance  is  brought  to  light  by  the  age 
statistics  of  convicted  criminals:  The  highest  criminality 
among  the  Jews,  as  compared  with  Gentiles,  is  found  between 
the  ages  of  15  and  20,  more  than  one-half  of  the  convicted 
Jewish  criminals  were  minors. 

"It  is  a  fact  familiar  to  everybody  from  personal  observa- 
tion and  borne  out  by  statistics  of  immigration  and  population, 
that  among  the  Jews  above  the  age  of  21  the  foreign-born 
vastly  predominate — whereas  among  the  minors  a  large  per- 
centage are  Americans.  The  inference  is  that  the  percentage 
of  criminals  among  the  Jewish  immigrants  is  lower  than  among 
Jewish  children  who  have  grown  up  on  the  streets  of  New  York. 

"While  the  ratio  of  criminality  among  adult  Jews  is  less 
than  one-third  of  the  ratio  among  adult  Gentiles,  Jewish  chil- 
dren hardly  differ  in  this  respect  from  Gentile  children.  Ap- 
parently, the  moral  influences  which  kept  the  Jew  away  from 
the  criminal  path  in  his  old  home  are  lacking  in  the  bringing 
up  of  the  youth  in  New  York."  (Statement  of  Prof.  Isaac  A. 
Hourwich  on  Jewish  Criminality  in  New  York  in  1907,  a  re- 
view of  the  statistics  compiled  by  Mr.  Mark  J.  Katz,  in  Fed- 
eration Review,  June,  1908.) 

3.     White  Slave  Traffic. 

Reference  must  be  made  to  the  most  despicable  of  all  crimes 
from  which  our  people  are  unfortunately  not  free.  The  situa- 
tion has  been  well  presented  in  an  editorial  in  the  London 
Jewish  Chronicle  (October  30,  1908).  "We  have  been  brought 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  our  duty  to  speak  out  and  to  throw 


-49  — 

the  light  of  day  upon  an  infamy  which  is  growing  apace  in 
our  community  which,  day  by  day,  is  bringing  deep  shame  upon 
it,  and  to  which,  at  all  hazards  and  at  all  costs,  the  community 
must  seek  to  put  an  end.  Of  these  offenses  our  people  are  by 
no  means  free.  It  is  idle  to  deny  it;  it  is  only  making  matters 
worse  to  ignore  it;  it  is  cowardly  not  to  face  it.  Too  long  have 
we  hidden  almost  from  ourselves  in  very  shame  the  whole 
nauseous  and  nauseating  question." 

"While  it  is  our  duty  to  face  the  situation  bravely  and  in  no 
uncertain  terms  to  denounce  the  evildoers  and  speedily  to  bring 
them  to  justice,  we  must  be  on  the  alert  to  answer  the  sweeping 
charges  which  are  made  against  our  people  as  being  chief  of- 
fenders against  virtue  and  morality  in  this  nefarious  traffic. 
The  words  of  Mr.  William  Alexander  Coote  (Secretary  of  the 
National  Vigilance  Committee  of  England),  an  international 
authority  on  the  evils  of  the  White  Slave  Traffic,  are  illuminat- 
ing on  the  subject.  After  studying  the  conditions  in  Europe, 
America  and  other  parts  of  the  world,  Mr.  Coote  has  expressed 
strong  condemnation  of  the  sweeping  charges  against  the  Jews' 
participation  in  the  White  Slave  Traffic,  as  follows: 

"I  do  not,  however,  endorse  all  that  you  say.  For  instance, 
you  imply  that  the  traffic  in  women  is  almost  wholly  confined 
to  a  section  of  the  Jewish  people.  I  have  been  through  Europe, 
America  and  other  parts  of  the  world  and  my  experience  does 
not  coincide  with  your  conclusion.  I  quite  agree  with  you  that 
far  too  many  of  the  Jewish  race  are  engaged  in  this  infamous 
traffic,  and  that  in  England,  especially,  it  is  a  growing  evil. 
.  .  .  In  the  East  End  the  Jew  engaged  in  this  traffic  is  very 
poor,  and  not  by  any  means  so  clever  at  it  as  the  Germans  or 
the  Frenchman,  consequently  he  is  more  frequently  caught  and 
prosecuted.  Jews  thus  figure  predominatingly  in  the  police  re- 
ports, ,and  hence,  I  think,  the  mistaken  notion  that  the  Jews  are 
almost  entirely  responsible  .  .  .  there  are  other  quarters  of 
London  worse,  in  my  opinion,  so  far  as  this  traffic  is  concerned. 
In  these  quarters  this  crime  is  reduced  to  a  science,  and  the 
dealers  are  able  to  defy  the  authorities  because  they  know  how  to 


—  50  — 

evade  the  existing  laws.  There  are  many  parts  of  London  where 
this  traffic  is  carried  on  by  wealth  which  has  been  obtained  by 
means  of  this  traffic,  and  whose  cunning  and  resourcefulness  are 
almost  omnipotent.  These  men  rarely  blunder  and  are  rarely 
caught.  We  know  some  of  them,  and  they  are  as  interested  in 
our  doings  as  we  are  in  theirs,  as  I  say  they  have  reduced  this 
business  to  a  science,  and  the  methods  they  adopt  leave  very  little 
risk  of  discovery."  (Jewish  Chronicle,  Nov.  6,  1908.)  It  is 
equally  true  of  New  York  City  and  other  large  cities  in  America, 
if  the  words  of  careful  observers  are  to  be  trusted. 

Many  have  said  that  the  White  Slave  Traffic  among  the  Jews 
is  not  to  be  compared  with  that  of  the  other  peoples.  It  is 
most  often  "dumped,"  so  to  speak,  upon  the  poor,  from  the 
wealthier  sections  of  the  city,  and  the  poor  groaning  under 
intolerable  economic  burdens  have  not  left  the  strength  and 
will  to  cut  it  root  and  branch  from  their  lives. 

But  this  is  no  consolation  to  us,  that  so  dreadful  a  social 
crime  is  to  be  found  among  non-Jews  to  as  great,  if  not  greater, 
extent  than  among  Jews;  it  should  be  our  own  immediate, 
consecrated  task,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  to  burn  the  evil  from 
the  midst  of  our  people  and  to  aid  in  every  way  the  efforts  of 
the  State  and  city  as  well  as  private  organization  to  blot  out 
this  crime  against  society. 

Appendix  E. 

STANDARD  OF  LIVING. 

A  very  exhaustive  investigation  was  made  during  the  past 
year  of  the  standards  of  living  among  391  poor  families  in 
New  York  City  by  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation.  Of  the  391 
families  closely  observed,  78  were  Russian.  While  the  number 
is  not  sufficiently  large  to  afford  a  basis  for  accurate  conclusions, 
yet  they  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  general  conditions. 

On  the  question  of  overcrowding,  the  Russians  are  recorded 
as  having  sixty  percent  of  the  families  living  1.5  persons  per 


—  51  — 

room.       This    compares     with     other    nationalities     as     follows 
("Standards  of  Living,"  by  Dr.  R.  C.  Chapin,  p.  105) : 

Native   American 30% 

Teutonic    21% 

Irish   50% 

Colored    57% 

Italian    .' 65% 

Austrian    66% 

Bohemian    79% 

(Dr.  Laidlaw  reports  that  in  1901-1902,  in  the  22d  Assembly 
District,  nine  percent  of  the  Jewish  families  (865)  were  crowded 
over  two  persons  to  the  room,  even  including  the  kitchen. 
Eighty  percent  of  the  families  were  without  bath.  This  com- 
pares with  ninety  percent  of  the  people  at  large,  without  bath. 
If  the  whole  municipal  area  (209,218  acres)  of  Greater  New 
York  were  peopled  as  densely  as  the  lower  East  Side,  or  383 
to  the  acre,  we  could  put  within  the  limits  of  the  city  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United  States  and  half  the 
Filipinos.  The  8th  Assembly  District  has  even  a  denser  popu- 
lation, namely,  735  to  the  acre  throughout  its  98  acres.  If 
New  York  in  its  whole  area  were  peopled  as  densely  as  this 
section,  it  would  have  over  150,000,000  persons.  (Am.  Heb., 
May  19,  1905.)  The  lower  East  Side  contains  about  1/150 
of  the  whole  municipal  area  of  Greater  New  York,  but  at  the 
same  time  holds  1-7  of  the  city's  whole  population. 

On  the  matter  of  underfeeding,  the  largest  number  is  re- 
ported of  the  Russians,  26  families,  or  45.5%,  comparing  with 
others  as  follows: 

Italian    5.3% 

Irish   8.3% 

Native  Americans 14.9% 

Teutonic    20.5% 

Colored 28.6% 

Bohemian    28.6% 

Austrian    34.5% 

Russian 45.5%   (ibid.,  p.  128). 


—  52 


Of  the  families  investigated  only  five  percent  of  the  Bussians 
reported  receiving  gifts  or  assistance  from  societies,  comparing 
with  others  as  follows : 

Italian  9% 

Austrian 16% 

Bohemian 21% 

Teutonic 33% 

Irish 46% 

Native  American ' .48% 

Colored 54%    (ibid.,  p.  189). 

The  largest  number  of  families  having  membership  in  Benefit 
Societies  was  found  among  the  Russians,  being  26,  comparing 
with  others: 

Irish  1 

Colored 3 

Italian 3 

.     Native  American 7 

Teutonic 8 

Bohemian 8 

Austrian    13 

Russian 26   (ibid.,  p.  193) . 

Interesting  is  the  following  itemized  account  of  expenditures 
for  food  in  a  Jewish  family  per  week.  The  family  consists  of 
father,  mother,  four  boys,  aged  six,  four,  two  years,  and  six 
months  respectively: 

Meats  and  Fish. 

Weekly  Expenditure 
7  Ibs.  beef $0.84 

1  Ib.  mutton 16 

2  Ibs.  fish 20 

2  cans  salmon 28     $1.48 


—  53 


Eggs,  Dairy  Products,  Etc. 

2  Ibs.   butter $0.64 

2  pkgs.   cheese 08 

1  doz.   eggs 24 

6  qts.  milk  (at  Straus    depot) . -. 20 

3  cans  condensed  milk 30     $1.4G 


Cereals. 

7  loaves  of  bread $0.56 

24  rolls   20 

3i/2  Ibs.  flour 10 

%  Ib.   cereal : 02     $0.88 


Vegetables  and  Fruits. 

6  Ibs.  potatoes $0.09 

2  Ibs.  onions 06 

Fresh  vegetables 10 

1  Ib.  dried  beans 08 

1  Ib.  dried  peas 04 

Fresh   fruit 15 

%  Ib.  dried  prunes 06     $0.58 


Sugar,  Tea,  Etc. 

y8  Ib.  tea   $0.05 

14  Ib.  coffee 05 

31/2  Ibs.   sugar ; 20 

%  Ib.  spice ." 02     $0.32 


Alcoholic  Drinks. 
Wine  on  holidays,  $1.50  per  year $0.03 

$4.75 


—  54  — 

"The  father  is  a  carpenter  (non-union)  with  wages  of  $15.00 
a  week,  but,  on  account  of  unemployment,  earning  only  $600  a 
year,  which  is  the  entire  income  of  the  family."  (Standards 
of  Living,"  p.  156f.) 

Dr.  Lee  K.  Frankel  has  written  a  description  of  the  average 
home  of  the  workman  making  $600  per  year,  recognized  as  a 
minimum  wage  upon  which  to  support  a  family  just  beyond 
the  border  of  abject  poverty:  "The  furniture  equipment  of 
such  a  family  is  in  most  instances  meagre.  If  there  are  three 
rooms,  the  socalled  parlor  is  a  combined  parlor,  sittingroom 
and  bedroom.  As  a  rule,  it  contains  a  bed  and  a  few  chairs. 
Occasionally  a  rocking  chair  or  a  sofa  is  found.  In  the  corner 
there  is  a  sewing  machine;  on  the  walls  a  few  cheap  pictures, 
family  portraits  and  the  like.  Cheap  ornaments  are  found  here 
and  there.  In  some  instances  the  floor  is  covered  with  a  cheap 
carpet.  The  second  room,  which  is  a  combination  diningroom 
and  kitchen,  has  a  table  covered  with  oilcloth,  a  few  chairs,  a 
stove,  and  kitchen  utensils  which  hang  on  the  walls,  owing  to 
the  lack  of  a  cupboard.  Frequently  an  icebox  is  found.  The 
third  room,  which  is  a  bedroom,  contains  an  iron  foldingbed, 
chair  and  trunk.  Clothes  hang  on  the  wall;  seldom  is  there 
a  bureau.  The  washing  of  the  family  is  done  at  the  sink  in 
the  kitchen,  there  being  no  washstands  or  washbowls  in  the  bed- 
room. .  .  .  The  disbursements  per  annum  for  furniture  average 
$6.00,  for  which  the  housewife  declares  she  can  purchase  only 
the  necessary  things.  These  include  dishes,  table  linens,  beds, 
chairs,  kitchen  utensils  and  supplies  for  cleaning.  If  more 
than  this  is  required,  for  example,  mirrors,  sewing  machines, 
etc.,  resort  must  be  made  to  installment  purchases.  .  .  . 
Most  of  the  disbursements  for  insurance,,  which  averages  $13 
per  annum,  are  for  socalled  life  and  burial  insurance.  The  food 
disbursement  for  such  a  family  approximates  $270  per  annum, 
for  five  individuals,  or  3.3  units.  .  .  .  Russia  and  Austrian 
Jewish  families  have  special  dinners  on  Friday  evenings  or 
on  Saturday,  using  fish  or  fowl.  .  .  .  The  family  clothes 
itself  at  a  cost  of  $84  per  annum.  .  .  .  The  budget  permits 


—  55  — 

a  disbursement  of  $14  for  the  preservation  of  the  health  of 
the  family — or  rather  sickness  requires  this  disbursement. 
.  .  .  Eight  dollars  is  spent  annually  by  this  family  for 
taxes  and  contributions.  .  .  .  Depending  upon  the  location 
in  which  the  family  lives  the  amount  spent  for  carfare  varies. 
The  $3  that  the  family  may  spend  for  recreation  permits  of 
almost  no  diversion.  .  .  ..  For  educational  purposes  the 
family  spends  $5  per  .  annum,  most  of  which  is  used  for  the 
daily  newspaper.  .  .  .  This  leaves  a  total  of  $25  per  annum 
for  miscellaneous  expenditures,  including  moving,  payment  of 
debts,"  etc.  ("Report  of  Special  Committee  on  Standard  of 
Living.") 

Appendix  F. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

The  need  of  recreation  and  diversion  among  the  working 
people  is  heightened  by  the  strain  and  fatigue  of  the  workday. 
But  unhappily,  in  proportion  to  their  need  are  the  opportunities 
for  wholesome  recreation,  so  essential  to  the  social  and  physical 
equilibrium  of  the  individual,  denied  them.  The  homes  of  the 
people  are  too  small  to  permit  with  any  decency  the  reception 
of  their  friends  for  sweet  converse.  For  diversion,  the  people 
are  practically  driven  from  their  homes.  In  summer  they 
flock  into  the  streets  wandering  aimlessly  to  and  fro,  or  visit 
the  crowded  recreation  piers,  or  if  they  can  manage  to  scrape 
together  enough  from  their  earnings  to  warrant  it,  take  a  trip 
to  one  of  the  many  pleasure  resorts  in  the  vicinity  of  Xew 
York.  Many  congregate  in  the  thousand  and  one  coffeehouses 
in  the  East  Side,  where  the  demand  for  social  expression  is 
granted  to  many  a  weary  toiler.  The  coffeehouse  to  the  Jew 
is  what  the  saloon  is  to  many  Christians.  In  the  reeking  coffee- 
houses of  Xew  York  many  a  student  to  fame  unknown  stimu- 
lates his  eager  listeners  with  reports  of  the  great  world  of 
science  and  art,  and  debates  ensue  which  arouse  the  latent 
powers  of  thought  and  expression  of  the  denizens  of  the 


—  56  — 

Ghetto.  While  gambling  is  resorted  to  in  many  of  the  coffee- 
houses, there  prevails  in  most  of  them  a  spirit  of  sociability 
and  scientific  inquiry.  The  habitues  are  made  to  feel  at  home; 
no  time  limit  is  placed  upon  them;  some  stimulus  to  self- 
expression  granted  and  the  society  of  one's  fellows  without 
reserve  is  thoroughly  enjoyed,  so  that  the  coffeehouses  in  New 
York  are  potent  factors  in  the  social  life  of  the  Jews. 

The  theaters,  especially  during  the  fall  and  winter,  mostly 
every  night  in  the  week,  attract  large  crowds  of  people  who 
are  swayed  now  to  a  high  pitch  of  joyous  emotion  and  then 
cast  into  the  lowest  depths  of  grief  and  pain,  as  they  view 
scenes  depicting  the  life  of  their  native  Russian  villages  and 
hear  in  the  Yiddish  a  description  of  the  dangers  of  the  new 
home.  They  are  visibly  affected  as  they  recall  by  the  suggestion 
of  the  drama  their  own  experiences  as  they  started  for  the 
new  world  with  fear  and  trembling  lest  the  reports  be  true  that 
in  the  new  home  they  would  be  forced  to  forget  their  Judaism. 
The  Yiddish  theaters  in  New  York  have  been  great  educational 
influences  upon  the  Jewish  poor,  but  there  are  now  some  fears 
expressed  that  in  their  commercialization  less  regard  will  be 
paid  to  the  appeal  and  need  of  the  people  than  to  the  conven- 
ience and  greed  of  the  managers. 

Among  the  young  people  in  summer  and  winter  the  dance 
halls,  numbering  many  hundreds,  supply  the  medium  of  social 
expression.  They  are  fraught  with  the  gravest  dangers  to  the 
morals  of  the  men  and  women  who  frequent  them.  Miss  Julia 
Schonfeld  has  performed  a  real  service  in  the  cause  of  morality 
in  making  for  the  Committee  on  Amusements  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation into  the  evils  of  the  dance  halls,  pointing  out  how 
young  girls  through  drink,  so  easily  procurable  in  the  halls, 
and  through  flattery  and  solicitation  of  men,  are  led  to  their 
ruin. 

POLITICS. 

In  politics  the  Jewish  poor  in  New  York  City  have  given 
evidence  of  an  independence  and  deliberation  which  are  the 


—  57  — 

virtues  most  applauded  and  most  frequently  offended  by  the 
citizens  of  our  Eepublic.  Staid  politicians  confess  that  the 
East  Side  is  an  unknown  quantity  in  city,  State  and  National 
elections.  The  voters  exercise  a  judgment  in  the  choice  of 
their  candidates  which  argues  most  strongly  for  their  true 
appreciation  of  the  honor  and  obligation  of  citizenship  in  a 
democratic  government. 

For  a  time  the  immigrant  is  perplexed  in  his  estimation  of 
the  vaunted  American  liberty  and  enlightenment.  But  soon  his 
Jewish  independence  and  love  of  truth  assert  themselves  and 
he  becomes  an  independent  in  politics.  There  are  leaders, 
however,  who  claim  that  the  independence  of  the  Jewish  vote 
is  exaggerated.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  tendency  of 
some  of  our  people  to  organize  themselves  as  Jewish  political 
clubs  in  order  to  command  political  patronage  is  both  against 
the  principles  of  the  American  government  and  according  to 
our  best  thinkers  antagonistic  to  the  spirit  of  Judaism.  It 
is  interesting  to  observe  that  Hillquit,  a  leader  of  the  Socialist 
party,  to  which  it  is  claimed  so  many  Jewish  voters  are  pledged, 
received  only  some  2483  votes  on  the  whole  East  Side  in  the 
last  congressional  election  (1908). 


Appendix  G. 

BELIGIOUS    CONDITIONS. 

Dr.  Blaustein  stated  as  his  belief  that  out  of  the  estimated 
200,0(70  Jewish  workmen  in  New  York  City,  about  twenty-five 
percent  keep  the  Sabbath.  Sixty  percent  of  this  number  work 
in  shops  of  contractors,  while  the  remaining  forty  percent  work 
in  factories  where  the  Sabbath  is  observed. 

Congestion  is  indirectly  a  religious  problem  because  many  a 
Jew,  purely  because  of  his  love  of  Judaism,  "is  not  willing  to 
leave  the  large  city  and  settle  in  a  smaller  place  'in  the  coun- 
try/ as  he  calls  it,  for  there  he  fears  there  are  not  a  sufficient 
number  of  Jews  to  form  a  Jewish  community;  he  will  be  de- 


—  58  — 

prived  of  religious  service;  he  will  be  obliged  to  break  his 
Sabbath,  violate  the  dietary  laws,  and  above  all,  his  child  will 
grow  up  without  a  religious  and  Hebrew  education."  (David 
Blaustein,  in  "University  Settlement  Studies,"  p.  77f,  July, 
1905.) 

On  the  high  holy  days,  the  vast  majority  of  Jews  are  very 
careful  to  visit  the  many  temporary  Synagogues  which  spring 
up  over  night.  Hundreds  of  dance  halls,  theaters,  saloons  and 
dwellings  are  converted  into  Synagogues,  which  are  thronged 
with  worshippers.  The  exact  number  of  these  temporary  sanc- 
tuaries is  not  known.  Many  of  the  projectors  advertise  ex- 
tensively to  attract  the  people  by  offering  as  a  special  attraction 
some  celebrated  singer  or  cantor.  It  most  frequently  happens 
that  the  only  qualification  which  the  advertised  celebrity  pos- 
sesses is  the  ability  to  sing  the  old  melodies.  As  to  moral  and 
intellectual  fitness  no  questions  are  asked.  In  many  of  the 
dance  halls  on  the  East  Side  can  be  seen  at  any  time  the  "Aron 
Hakodesh"  pushed  into  a  corner,  awaiting  the  return  of  the 
holy  days  to  be  pressed  at  a  moment's  notice  into  service. 

Many  of  the  responsible  leaders  of  New  York  Jewry  have 
raised  their  voices  in  protest  against  this  evil  that  shames  us 
on  the  approach  of  our  festivals.  The  New  York  community 
has  made  an  earnest  attempt  to  control  the  situation.  During 
the  last  summer  arrangements  were  made  with  a  number  of 
large  halls,  and  notably  with  the  Educational  Alliance,  to  hold 
services  on  the  holy  days  under  more  esthetic  auspices.  While 
some  reforms  were  gained,  the  problem  is  just  touched,  and 
a  great  deal  of  work  is  before  the  community  before  it  jvill  be 
free  from  the  scandal  of  the  temporary  Synagogues. 

Some  Jewish  employers  permit  their  Jewish  employees  to 
absent  themselves  from  business  on  the  holy  days.  Others  pro- 
hibit it  on  the  penalty  of  immediate  dismissal.  Some  workmen 
are  not  interested  in  the  matter  at  all,  while  many  sincerely 
regret  the  economic  necessity  which  compels  them  to  labor  on 
the  holy  days. 

In  September,  1907,  a  letter  was  sent  from  the  office  of  the 


—  59  — 

Adjutant  General  of  the  War  Department  of  the  United  States 
at  the  instance  of  the  Union  of  Orthodox  Congregations  of 
America,  authorizing  department  commanders  in  the  United 
States  "to  grant  the  privilege  to  soldiers  of  the  Jewish  faith 
to  be  absent  from  their  duties  for  such  length  of  time  as  may 
be  necessary  to  enable  them  to  attend  to  divine  services"  (New 
Year  and  Atonement  Days). 

The  same  privilege  was  secured  for  the  employees  of  the  Post- 
Office  Department  of  New  York  City.  On  the  first  day  of 
New  Year,  out  of  1000  Jewish  employes,  750  took  advantage 
of  the  privilege;  on  the  second  day,  440;  on  Yom  Kippur, 
900  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  rest.  (Am.  Heb., 
November  15,  1907.) 

We  must  remember  that  the  difficulties  in  the  path  of  loyalty 
are  tremendously  heightened  in  a  land  which  makes  no  pre- 
tense at  identifying  religion  with  the  affairs  of  State,  so  that 
each  individual*  is  left  free  to  affiliate  with  a  Synagogue  or  to 
separate  himself  from  it.  For  this  reason  Eussian  Jews  in 
America,  who  are  religious,  are  more  to  be  honored  for  their 
loyalty  to  Judaism  than  in  Eussia,  where  the  small  communities 
organized  under  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  authority  exacted  of 
them  a  complete  adherence  to  all  the  laws  whether  they  were 
the  essential  or  the  unessential  ordinances  of  our  faith.  But 
here  in  America  by  their  deliberate  choice  in  a  free  environ- 
ment, our  people  indicate  their  loyalty  to  our  faith,  not  in 
strict  conformity  to  all  the  minute  regulations  of  the  law  framed 
in  part,  for  a  particular  time,  or  for  a  particular  environment, 
but  with  a  deep  love  for  the  essential  laws,  and  in  a  true 
appreciation  of  its  best  poetry  and  symbolism.  As  a  result,  we 
may  expect  to  find  here  a  more  intelligent  and  devoted  people 
than  in  any  other  land. 

In  addition  to  the  worship  held  in  the  various  Synagogues 
of  the  city,  the  free  religious  services  regularly  conducted  in 
the  Educational  Alliance,  the  Emanuel  Brotherhood  and  the 
Young  Men's  Hebrew  Association  and  other  associations  deserve 
special  recognition  as  potent  influences  in  the  deepening  of 


—  60  — 

their  love  for  Judaism  among  the  working  people.  These  same 
and  other  institutions  have  been  doing  excellent  work  in  the  re- 
ligious instruction  of  the  children  of  the  working  people.  At  the 
same  time  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  all  the  Synagogues 
up  to  the  limit  of  their  capacity,  all  who  seek  entrance,  whether 
working  people  or  not,  are  made  welcome.  This  is  not  the 
opinion  prevailing  among  many  people,  but  it  is  based  upon 
ignorance  and  misrepresentation.  Let  anyone  to  convince  himself 
visit  any  of  the  Synagogues,  and  he  will  not  be  turned  away. 
And  for  the  privilege  he  will  not  be  asked  to  pay. 


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